U.K. Property Tycoon Bets on Iconic London Site Amid Brexit Woe

(Bloomberg) -- As tension mounts around Brexit, British property tycoon John Hitchcox says he's staying clear of residential developments in the U.K. and focusing instead on raising 700 million pounds ($917 million) to redevelop an iconic west London exhibition center.

“London is a great city and will always be a great city, and this will keep us going,” Hitchcox, chairman of the Yoo Capital investment firm, said in an interview last week. “It's a very long-term project: Brexit is going to be over, and we're going to be in construction for the next three years.”

The proposed redevelopment, centered around the 132-year-old Olympia exhibition center, will include an additional two hotels and theaters, new performance spaces, 670,000 square feet of offices and a hub for technology companies, the developer said. His firm bought the 14 acre site -- set in the wealthy boroughs of Kensington and Hammersmith -- in 2017 for $475 million with the help of German backers.

“The idea is to turn it into a performing arts, cultural district,” Hitchcox said of the site, which currently hosts exhibitions by 130,000 businesses and 225 shows annually. “The beating heart of our business is exhibitions and events.”

Hitchcox's firm halted investments two years ago in the U.K. residential market, which he sees as having “gone into a paralysis” amid concerns about the impact of Brexit on the U.K. economy and stamp duties levied on wealthier homes and investment properties. “Taxation is too much of a burden on the industry,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shelley Robinson in London at ssmith118@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam at sbhaktavatsa@bloomberg.net, Chitra Somayaji

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