Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has completed the acquisition of a 25% stake in St James Quarter, the £1 billion shopping centre and leisure complex in Edinburgh, which will be Westfield rebranded in 2026.
In June, Nuveen Real Estate brought the complex to market, as well as a 100% interest in the W Edinburgh hotel at the scheme.
Savills is sole agent for the 25% interest. Dutch asset manager APG, which manages the Netherlands' civil service and education pension fund ABP, owns the remaining 75% of the mixed-use development, which was built in 2021.
The 1.7 million-square-foot mixed-use scheme includes an 850,000-square-foot retail "galleria", which is anchored by John Lewis, and has footfall of over 18 million per year. The scheme also includes the New Eidyn residential development, comprising 152 apartments.
URW said it will manage the shopping centre, generating additional income through asset management and retail media fees. The centre will be rebranded as a Westfield destination in 2026.
It is the only major city centre retail and leisure complex to have been developed in recent years, driven by the underlying strength of Edinburgh as a destination for tourists and and its wide catchment area.
In addition, St James Quarter offers 1,600 off-street car parking spaces, accounting for 75% of all off-street car parking in the city.
Robert-Jan Foortse, Head of Real Estate Europe at APG, said in a statement: “Since its opening in 2021, St James Quarter has consistently strengthened its operational performance, establishing itself among the UK’s leading shopping destinations. The acquisition marks an exciting new chapter for the centre which will benefit from URW’s operational expertise and innovative services, as well as for our collaboration, building on the success of our partnership at Westfield Stratford City. APG is pleased to continue our strong relationship with URW as we pursue shared ambitions and long-term value creation, both for our joint investments and for St James Quarter in particular.”
The transaction was announced as part of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield's third quarter trading update.
The group also announced the acceleration of its succession plan with the appointment of Vincent Rouget as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board, effective January 1, 2026.
Jean-Marie Tritant, chief executive officer, said in a statement: “The strong operating performance in the first nine months of the year was underpinned by rising tenant sales and increased footfall across our portfolio of dominant flagship assets in the best European and US markets. This performance supported strong leasing activity with positive MGR uplift and positions us to unlock further reversionary potential and sustain long-term value creation in the future.
"In 2025 to date, we have completed or secured €1.6 billion of disposals – including a non-core real estate management business in Germany and the group’s US airports business. With an additional €0.7 billion of non-core transactions currently under discussion, we are on track to achieve the €2.2 billion in planned disposals identified in our business plan.
"We have also acquired a 25% stake in St James Quarter, a high-quality, fully redeveloped asset in Edinburgh that perfectly fits our strategy to operate and grow dominant flagship destinations in key urban markets. This accretive transaction is also aligned with the group’s ‘A Platform for Growth’ 2025-28 business plan and offers an opportunity to expand the globally-recognised Westfield brand to a new market.
"Our strong operating performance to date, our successful refinancings as well as our disposal progress give us the confidence to increase our 2025 AREPS guidance at least €9.50.”