The Elephant, a £500m new town centre in Elephant & Castle, being delivered by Get Living, is forecast to rank within the top 4% of all retail destinations in the capital once it launches in autumn 2026.
Bringing together new homes, shopping, dining, entertainment, culture and education in one place, The Elephant is set to benefit from a significant market opportunity.
According to a report by retail property consultants CACI, which utilised machine learning methodology to assess market potential, The Elephant is expected to have access to over £200m-worth of retail and leisure spend annually.
This places it in 21st position out of 674 retail locations across London, just behind areas like King’s Cross and Battersea Power Station, and ahead of Camden Town, Hammersmith, The Strand and Brixton in projected annual retail and leisure spend.
This research reflects the strong retail offering that The Elephant will bring to a currently underserved area, with opportunity to integrate strong performing stores across sectors such as grocery, personal care, leisure and food & beverage.
Set against the backdrop of the wider £4bn Elephant & Castle transformation, The Elephant will deliver 485 new homes, alongside 135,000sq ft of shops, dining and leisure uses, 55,000sq ft of workspace, a state-of-the-art new building for UAL’s London College of Communication and a new station entrance for the Northern line.
The new Zone 1 neighbourhood is the first of its kind for Get Living, which is one of the UK’s leading build-to-rent investors, developers and operators, providing quality rental homes in neighbourhoods across London, Manchester, Maidenhead and Leatherhead.
It is the first time Get Living has delivered a neighbourhood that provides an even split of commercial and residential space which, once complete, will be the biggest new retail offering to open in central London since Battersea Power Station.
Rick de Blaby, chief executive of Get Living, said: “We are now just one year off from the official launch of The Elephant and we couldn’t be more excited about its potential. From day one, the CACI research suggests that it will be one of the capital’s top ranking retail destinations and we expect this to continue to improve as we open the new tube station entrance, UAL’s new London College of Communication campus and begin work on our proposed final phase that includes 1,000 new homes, a new cultural venue and more public space to explore.
“The area is currently massively underserved and there is a lot of pent-up demand for great experiences and high-quality services and are therefore pleased to share that leasing is progressing well, with over 70%of the retail units at The Elephant under offer.
“With a diverse audience to cater for, ranging from locals and commuters to visitors and students, we are continuing to curate a mix that brings in established and independent retail brands, as well as innovative new leisure and dining concepts.
“In a competitive London market, The Elephant is built for experience-first brands and offers a canvas for an experiential retail offering, with flexibility, activation space and cultural partnerships baked in. We will share more detail on these offerings in due course and look forward to welcoming everyone to meet at The Elephant next year.”
Elephant & Castle is already an established Zone One destination in its own right, but the introduction of the new town centre aims to establish it as a place where people can meet, live, visit, dine, shop, learn and connect with others, however they choose to do so.
The CACI report estimates that The Elephant will far outperform its size, attracting more consumer spend per square foot than comparable London locations. This is largely due to the diverse mix of audiences being catered for at The Elephant, which includes the local community and rental tenants, commuters, visitors and students.
The report suggests that The Elephant’s spend profile will be primarily driven by young professionals with a strong affinity to leisure, food & beverage and lifestyle brands, a group which is predicted to have the highest growth (42%) comparatively within the next ten years.
With its central London location just south of the Thames river, Elephant & Castle is uniquely positioned with both the City and West End just minutes away. Therefore, the report also expects that 22% of its consumer base will come from residents from the wider catchment area stretching from Camden Town to Bromley, as well as those from across the rest of London.
Elephant & Castle is already well served by public transport links, with access to 28 bus routes, as well as Bakerloo line, Northern line and overground stations. Get Living has calculated a footfall of 16.2 million people to the new retail destination; many of whom already pass through the station annually.
To further enhance this, earlier this year Get Living, in partnership with Delancey and Multiplex, completed the underground structure of the new Tube station entrance and ticket hall to initially replace the existing entrance to the Northern line, safeguard a future Bakerloo line extension and enable an improved passenger experience. Once fitted out and opened by TfL, the new entrance is expected to increase capacity by over 30%.
Alex McCulloch, director of property at CACI, said: “The opening of The Elephant marks an exciting moment for one of London’s fastest-growing areas. Our research shows that with its planned operator mix, The Elephant has the potential to become a vibrant retail and leisure destination, serving a diverse mix of visitors, including residents, workers, and students.”
