A RAFT OF NEW OPENINGS AT CROWN WALK BICESTER

It’s been a busy few months for LCP, the national commercial property and investment company, since purchasing Crown Walk, in January, earlier this year.

They have just completed their eighth deal in less than six months of ownership with the largest, of approximately 5,000 sq ft, to a children's soft play centre.
KidzZoo Soft Play and Party Venue is to open at Units 15-16 after agreeing a 10-year lease with LCP, which manages the open-air centre in the Oxfordshire town.
Proprietor Tanya Bezuidenhout said the space will comprise a spacious soft play area, complete with dedicated space for toddlers and café on the ground floor, plus air-conditioned party rooms on the first floor.

She said she hoped to open the centre in September, creating four full-time permanent jobs and once fully operational, there will also be further part-time roles created.
“We’re excited to open what is our first soft play centre and hope that it will grow as the business matures,” said Tanya. “We wanted to open as close to Bicester town centre as possible and Crown Walk is as good at it gets. It is centrally located, with good public transport links and plenty of parking. We also want to encourage people to shop locally and help to revitalise our High Street.

“We looked at a number of sites around Bicester, but we found that we either encountered landlords who were not interested in pursuing a change of use for their property or the premises were not suitable. We were delighted when LCP was prepared to work with us to make our dream of establishing a soft play centre in Bicester a reality.”
Julian Diamond, retail director at LCP, said the latest raft of lettings marked a significant milestone since it acquired the centre at the beginning of the year.

“It’s been an exciting few months as we’ve worked hard to attract new and diverse operators and help existing operators expand where possible in order to achieve footfall and increase dwell time,” he said. “Now we are pleased to agree our latest letting, welcoming a family-focused venue that will provide the local community with a superb facility in the town centre”.

“It’s a fantastic start for us at Crown Walk and it vindicates our belief that it has great potential to be a success. It also demonstrates that our intensive management approach yields great results.”

Since January, Wood Green Animal Shelter, Shotz American pool bar, Diamond Nails and KidzZoo Soft Play have all moved to Crown Walk, while Biagio the Jewellers have expanded their premises. Papa John’s Pizza and a Turkish Barber are soon due to join this list and other key tenants including: Vodafone, H Samuel, Boots Opticians, Warrens Bakery, Peacocks and Thomson. LCP acquired the Centre on behalf of Sheet Anchor Investments 2 Ltd, which is part of the LCP group of companies.