Harworth Group has secured a resolution to grant planning permission from North Yorkshire Council for the development of a major rail-connected industrial and logistics hub at its 185 acre Gascoigne Interchange site in Leeds.

The approved plans will see the development of up to 1.5 million sq. ft. of industrial and logistics space at Gascoigne Interchange, in line with the Group’s strategy to increase its direct development of industrial and logistics space from its extensive landbank, and has the potential to deliver up to £190 million gross development value (GDV). The proposal is the delivery of seven units, ranging from 57,000 sq. ft. to 1.0 million sq. ft., all built to Grade A specification, with Harworth expecting to start on site in 2025.

The brownfield site is one of Harworth’s next-generation of development sites and is situated in Selby, to the east of Leeds and adjacent to Sherburn Industrial Estate. It is one of the most strategically located, rail-connected sites in the region, enabling future occupiers to utilise the existing main line rail connection from the site for a wide variety of uses, including low carbon freight movement.

The site, which is accessed via Junction 42 of the A1(M), has an extensive collection of rail sidings on either side of Network Rail’s Leeds to Hull main line route, with current operational connections into the northern and southern plots on the site.

The rail access to the north of the site offers scope to create a dedicated railhead serving the buildings on site, with the ability to handle containers, bulk commodities or next-generation express freight services, and puts most of the UK within three hours of the site.

The plots to the south of the site benefit from 1,200 metres of frontage onto the main line with connections at either end capable of accommodating a major intermodal terminal for on-site and off-site customers.

The absence of speculative institutional funding and increasing tenant prioritisation for highly sustainable space is forecast to underpin strong demand for strategically-connected, Grade A industrial units in the Yorkshire region over the medium term, according to Knight Frank.

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