Opus Land and Standard Life Investments to develop Waitrose store in Solihull29th August 2013

West Midlands’ commercial property developer, Opus Land and Standard Life Investments are working in partnership to develop a food retail store on Homer Road, Solihull. Subject to planning, the 28,000 sq ft development will be managed by Opus Land, funded by Standard Life Investments and leased to Waitrose.

With the culmination of efforts by Waitrose over recent years to gain representation within the town centre, the 1.68-acre site is ideally situated in the middle of Solihull’s central zone, opposite the town’s flagship John Lewis store.

Gareth Williams, Development Director at Opus Land said: “We are delighted that, having decided to move into this most dynamic sector of the market, our first food store scheme should be with such a quality operator in such a high profile, well known location. We look forward both to continuing our relationship with Waitrose going forward, and to fostering new relationships within the sector generally.”

James Stevens, Head of UK Development, Standard Life Investments said: “The potential to redevelop this existing asset demonstrates Standard Life Investments’ long term investment strategy and proactive management of our existing portfolio to identify and deliver development opportunities.”