The land includes the former Mitchell’s of Lancaster brewery and a development agreement is also in place with Lancaster City Council for the acquisition of land to enable the delivery of a significant canal-side, mixed-use scheme across a 10 acre site.

Richard Wise, Head of Retail Development for British Land, said: “Working closely with Lancaster City Council and English Heritage, our aim is to deliver a scheme that complements the site’s historical setting.

“Lancaster has seen very little retail investment over the last two decades and we look forward to creating a retail and leisure destination to serve local people and attract significant numbers of visitors into the city.

“We are confident that a relatively modest initial investment could lead to a future development with a targeted end value of over £75 million.”

British Land’s retail pipeline includes: the recently announced £90 million forward funding of the Old Market scheme in Hereford city centre; the extension and refurbishment of Surrey Quays Shopping Centre in Canada Water; and extensions at Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh and Broughton Shopping Park in Chester.

British Land and USS are also appraising opportunities to extend and enhance Eden Walk Shopping Centre in Kingston which British Land acquired a 50% share in during July.

Retail development projects already underway include: the new build 320,000 sq ft Whiteley Shopping Centre in Hampshire which is already nearly 80% pre-let and under offer and opens in spring 2013; and a 45,000 sq ft leisure extension to Glasgow Fort Shopping Park, due for completion in summer 2013 which is fully pre-let.