Shopping centre owner and operator, New River Retail is to submit plans to Warwick Council tomorrow (Tuesday 4 February) for the redevelopment of its Regent Court Shopping Centre into a new specialist food quarter.
Under the £7m plans, which was prompted from the arrival of Nando’s last year, New River plans to transform all the current retail units at the centre into eateries. It is thought that the company has already had a “a string of strong enquiries” from major operators wanting to open in the development. Wagamama, Strada and Starbucks are already also operating in the centre.
Caribbean restaurant chain Turtle Bay have already signed up and Bill Wareing, of the Leamington-based property agents Wareing & Company, who is acting for New River, said there has been “very strong interest from at least three other operators who like not only the concept of a restaurant quarter, but also see this as the perfect way to move into the Leamington market.”
New River Retail is the UK’s 4th largest owner/manager of shopping centres. It is also a leading specialist REIT focused on the UK food and value retail sector with the ambition to become the leading value-creating property investment platform in the sector. Last year the company acquried a portfolio of 202 pubs from Marston’s for £90m, which it plans to turn into more lucrative convenience food stores.