Legal & General has exchanged contracts to complete the largest privately funded development in Wales, Cardiff Central Square, in partnership with the Welsh Government and Rightacres Property.
Comprising over 500,000 sq ft, the final major element of the £400m regeneration scheme will include the largest Build to Rent scheme in Wales.
Legal & General is using long-dated UK pension money to invest in cities and towns; creating real jobs, high quality and varied housing and better infrastructure. It has invested over £19bn into UK direct investments such as homes, urban regeneration, clean energy and transport infrastructure.
This latest deal in Wales follows Legal & General’s announcement that it has signed the UK’s largest bulk annuity transfer – a £4.6bn Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) with Rolls-Royce Pension Fund, covering approximately 33,000 in-payment pensioners.
Kerrigan Procter, CEO of Legal & General Capital, said: “Legal & General’s activity across the South West and Wales demonstrates how our varied capital streams can be put to work to create real high quality assets which have a significant long term socio-economic impact in the region. Cardiff Central Square is a prime example of how we are creating assets for Legal & General Retirement to back pension risk transfer deals and that can form part of LGIM-managed funds, while delivering jobs, housing, infrastructure and exponential economic growth. This is inclusive capitalism at its best.”
Dan Batterton, Head of Build to Rent at LGIM Real Assets, said: “With Cardiff’s population expected to grow significantly over the next 20 years, increasing pressure is being put on its housing provision and infrastructure.
“We are delighted to announce Wales’ largest Build to Rent scheme, which will help to address the growing challenges, offering high quality, affordable homes on long term flexible leases for elective renters. The delivery of high quality developments with vibrant communities is becoming more and more important. This latest project is the perfect example and will have a positive long term impact for Cardiff and the South West more widely, maximising our existing infrastructure and supporting economic growth and job creation.”
Within the South West, Legal & General has funded more than seven major schemes over the past five years. According to analysis by BOP Consulting, these have had a significant positive impact on the local economy, including adding a projected £1.1bn to the Gross Value Added of the Cardiff City region over the coming decade.
Tom Roberts, Head of Strategic Investment at LGIM Real Assets, said: “Rising to the challenges faced by modern cities requires a next level approach to urban regeneration. To meet the expectations of modern city-dwellers and to improve their quality of life, developments must be genuinely mixed, offering a range of residential and work space, alongside infrastructure improvements. Legal & General is committed to funding and delivering this kind of sustainable developments and we are activity identifying further opportunities in the South West, alongside today’s announcement in Cardiff.”
In Bath Quays North, Legal & General is investing £400m into redeveloping a 5.5 acre prime riverside site into a 306,000 sqft office-led, mixed use scheme. It is also delivering 868 Build to Rent Homes in Bristol, Bath and Cardiff and around 300 homes within its first urban retirement living scheme in Bath.
Additionally, Legal & General has forward funded 3 Glass Wharf in Bristol for HMRC’s new hub and has invested into Sovereign Shopping Centre in the centre of Weston-Super-Mare.
On the back of this success in the South West and Wales, Legal & General is now in active discussions to deliver further mixed-use regeneration schemes across the region, including Bristol Temple Island.
