 Lordland Property Holdings joined forces with The Berkeley Group plc in May 1996 to develop the project know as
Gunwharf Quays through the vehicle of The Berkeley Festival Waterfront Company Limited. This was to be Britain’s first world class shopping and leisure waterfront. Combining the substantial UK development experience of Berkeley with the proven track record of Lordland in waterfront development and management this project was described by The Daily Telegraph as “Europe’s most important waterfront leisure, shopping and tourist location”.
Gunwharf Quays was modelled on the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town and which is regarded as the most successful waterfront in the world.
The site is a former Ministry of Defence operation covering 33 acres. The site has been divided into three principal elements namely the commercial, residential and hotel sites. Exclusively Berkeley has handled the development and sale of the residential component. The commercial site comprises a mixed use of approximately 470,000ft² made up of 180,000ft² of Factory Outlet Retail, 180,000ft² of Leisure, 90,000ft² of Restaurants and 20,000ft² of Office accommodation. Parking is provided on site by 1,100 under cover parking bays with additional areas adjacent to the site. Construction started in early 1997 and the centre opened in February 2001. The key tenants currently occupying premises are Polo Ralph Lauren, GAP, Nike, M & S, Burberry, FCUK, Tiger Tiger, Warner Village, Pizza Express and Sante Fe to name a few. Additional features are the Tall Ships Berths that were used to host part of the international Tall Ships Race in 2002 and the Millennium Tower now nearing completion. Shortly prior to the opening of the centre Land Securities plc acquired a 50% shareholding in the commercial element of the project. The original development partnership retains the balance.
Lordland Property Holdings ceased to have an active role in the day to day management of the centre in April 2002 but continued to retain its interest in the development partnership until the sale of the completed project to Land Securities plc in December 2003. Gunwharf Quays is fully integrated with its surroundings, which include the Historic Ship Museum to the north and Old Portsmouth to the south. In its first year of operations it attracted over 5,3 million visits. 
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