John Lewis and Waitrose to anchor new Westfield Croydon development

A co-located John Lewis and Waitrose will be the anchor tenant of the new £1.4bn Westfield development in Croydon, South London.

Westfield and Hammerson have formed a joint venture and are currently planning the transformation the centre, currently known at The Whitgift Centre into a major shopping, leisure and residential destination.

The securing of a joint John Lewis and Waitrose store is seen as something of a coup as the brands are among the most requested additions to the town centre.

Westfield Europe head of development John Burton said: “The Croydon Partnership is delighted to deliver two of the UK’s leading brands. This is a major milestone and is a demonstration of the strength of Croydon and the project. John Lewis is the most requested addition to the town centre and its arrival will ensure Croydon’s future as the retail and leisure capital for south London.”

Westfield Croydon was given the green light by London Mayor Sadiq Khan at the beginning of the year. It will be home to 300 shops, foot outlets and leisure facilities as well as a multi-screen cinema and bowling alley, set over 1.5m sq ft. Crucially it will also house 1,000 new rented homes, 20% of which will be let at below market rates.

Construction will begin next year and Hammerson chief investment officer Peter Cole said the signings of John Lewis and Waitrose highlighted "the importance of this growing regional catchment and the desire from leading retailers to have a significant presence in the town. Over the coming months we are looking to make further progress with the land assembly process ahead of commencing detailed design and the pre-letting of the scheme.”

The centre will be London's third major Westfield supermall with the first having been opened in White City 10 years ago and the second in Stratford opened in 2012 to co-incide with the London Olympics.