Evolve Estates acquires Elephant Park retail and leisure space from Lendlease
Evolve Estates has acquired 120,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space at Elephant Park from Lendlease.
Located within the Elephant & Castle area of central London, Elephant Park is a flagship mixed-use development which is being delivered by Lendlease in collaboration with Southwark Council. The project is centred around a new park and has delivered 3,000 new homes so far.
The development’s retail and leisure space brings together a mix of independent operators and features global cuisine, cafés, fitness operators, leisure spaces, bars, and community purposes.
Prior to its sale, Lendlease added 12 brands to Elephant Park’s retail and leisure offering over three months, amounting to over 40,500 sq ft of retail and leisure space.
Businesses which have recently joined the destination include national brands such as The Gym Group, Simply Fresh, and Heavenly Desserts, as well as independents including The Qube, Queer Comedy Club, The Book Elephant, EP Cuts, Jumping Bean, Jack The Chipper, and Mabella.
Sebastian Macdonald-Hall, partner at Evolve Estates, said: “We were attracted to Elephant Park’s scale and ambition. Lendlease has delivered a hugely successful regeneration project, creating new homes, offices, green spaces, and jobs. We want to build on this by working with local stakeholders to develop a thriving and diverse community.
“This is a significant acquisition for Evolve, demonstrating our ability to invest, manage and develop the retail and leisure proposition within one of London’s largest regeneration areas.
“We made fourteen acquisitions in 2024, which form part of our growth plans. As a business, we will continue our growth trajectory for 2025, with further announcements coming soon.
“There is a high demand for space at Elephant Park, and we will soon announce exciting new operators building on the carefully curated tenant mix that blends local, independent, and national operators.”
Guy Thomas, head of retail and place assets at Lendlease, added: “Lendlease has led the Elephant Park journey for over a decade, starting with the creation of Artworks and evolving it into the vibrant destination it is today.
“Its development is a source of great pride for the team, as we created a thriving community hub in Zone 1, made possible by the exceptional local and national businesses that now call Elephant Park home.
“We look forward to seeing Elephant Park’s commercial ground floor flourish under Evolve’s ownership.”
Evolve Estates – which is part of commercial property and investment collective M Core – was represented by HampsonWall. CBRE acted for Lendlease.