Plans for a massive logistics centre believed to be for online retailer Amazon have been unveiled by its developer. It is thought the online giant could create up to 3,500 jobs with the 1.6m sq ft logistics fulfilment centre next to the A66 in Darlington. The identity of the site’s
Industrial space has been boosted in Liverpool with the completion of the third phase of development at Stonebridge Business Park. Caddick Construction delivered the six-month project on behalf of St Modwen, which included the delivery of a further 52,000 sq ft of industrial space at the 30-acre site. Ian Threadgold,
Plans have been lodged for a new £125m large warehouse in West Yorkshire for retail giant Next, which could lend the region to more than 1,000 jobs. Next, supported by Q+A Planning and pHp Architects, has submitted an application to Wakefield Council for a site south of Field Lane in
Construction work has officially begun on a new distribution centre based at Optimus Point in Leicestershire for laboratory and medical equipment supplier, Sarstedt Limited The facility was granted planning permission in the summer following the appointment of construction consultancy Gleeds by Wilson Bowden Developments. Gleeds is acting as the employer’s
New building constitutes the third phase of development completed to date at the popular St Modwen Park development in Burton, Staffordshire. GMI Construction Group has announced the completion of a new 103,947 sq ft speculative distribution unit for leading logistics & industrial developer St Modwen in Burton One of the
A PLAN for a major new distribution centre in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter can go ahead, city planning officials have signalled. Titanic Quarter Ltd’s proposal would see full demolition of the existing industrial building on the site next to Queens Road, replacing it with a modern and larger 100,000 sq ft
The growing shift to online shopping by consumers is behind many of the recent well-publicised closures on the high street. But the trend is also bolstering tender opportunities in the industrial sector as new logistics and warehouse construction keeps growing to meet demand for distribution space. A recent trading update
Trebor Developments has appointed Sheffield based Construction Contractor J F Finnegan to construct Avion Plot 3C, Aero Centre, First Avenue, Finningley, Doncaster. Plot 3C Aero Centre, located at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, consists of the construction of two industrial/logistics units totaling approximately 105,111 sq ft, inclusive of first floor office accommodation.
The first phase of a giant warehousing complex geared for the needs of online shopping is taking shape at Ipswich, off the A14. The Great Blakenham scheme – described as groundbreaking – will be a warehouse and distribution complex which is set to break with traditional norms with its building
A project funded by AEW UK Investment Management, which has bought the site from Caddick Group in the stages to start construction. Wakefield 515, which will be speculatively built, marks the second phase of Crosspoint 33, an emerging warehouse & logistics hub by junction 33 of the M62 motorway. Caddick
Plans for a massive logistics centre believed to be for online retailer Amazon have been unveiled by its developer. It is thought the online giant could create up to 3,500 jobs with the 1.6m sq ft logistics fulfilment centre next to the A66 in Darlington. The identity of the site’s operator has not been officially confirmed but national logistics developer db symmetry has secured a £120m letting at Symmetry Park and said the tenant is a ‘world-leading retailer’. Now db symmetry, in partnership with landowners Durham Cathedral, has unveiled how the development will look when finished, bringing a major economic asset to the Tees Valley. Construction for Symmetry Park is gaining momentum with the steelwork already completed for the first phase of the £100m logistics and distribution hub. ISG Construction is main contractor for the building. Symmetry Park, Darlington is a 90-acre site located on the A66, seven miles from Junction 57 of the A1 motorway and 20 miles from Tees Port. Since acquiring the site last November, db symmetry has secured planning consent for over 1.6m sq ft of B1, B2 and B8 uses and intends to gain outline consent for a further 500,000 sq ft on the remaining 37 acres. db symmetry recently hosted an event in Newcastle to officially launch the scheme to North East agents representing the potential occupier market with a strong marketing drive to showcase the key attributes of the site in terms of specification and location. With the potential to create around 3,500 new jobs and contribute £180m to the regional economy, the developer said Symmetry Park Darlington is a significant new asset for regional and national investment. Andrew Dickman, director at db symmetry said: “We are pleased to formally bring Symmetry Park Darlington to market as an exceptionally strong proposition to those seeking a base in the North East. Having already pre-let a significant proportion of the site to a high calibre operator, we are in a strong position with funding in place and full site infrastructure construction underway. “We can offer bespoke design and build options from 50,000 sq ft to 500,000 sq ft and potential for roadside amenities in the form of a hotel, a petrol filling station, drive through, restaurants and offices.” Colliers International is jointly advising db symmetry with Gent Visick and Carter Jonas. Durham Cathedral was represented by Carter Jonas. The project team includes Lichfields, GVA, Harris Partnership, JPG and Desco.
Industrial space has been boosted in Liverpool with the completion of the third phase of development at Stonebridge Business Park. Caddick Construction delivered the six-month project on behalf of St Modwen, which included the delivery of a further 52,000 sq ft of industrial space at the 30-acre site. Ian Threadgold, head of Caddick Construction’s North West office, said: “We have a successful, long standing relationship with St Modwen, having delivered earlier phases at Stonebridge Business Park and a retail park at Great Homer Street in Liverpool. This latest Design and Build scheme at Stonebridge is providing a further boost to the local economy in this prime location.” Stuart Murray, development director at St Modwen added: “Stonebridge Business Park is a key strategic site in the north west and plays an important role in the region. “The scheme has attracted some major players in the logistics sector due to its ideal location and we’re confident that the site will continue to be of interest to high-calibre tenants who are looking for flexible, quality space.”
Plans have been lodged for a new £125m large warehouse in West Yorkshire for retail giant Next, which could lend the region to more than 1,000 jobs. Next, supported by Q+A Planning and pHp Architects, has submitted an application to Wakefield Council for a site south of Field Lane in South Elmsall. Full planning permission is sought for a 777,000 sq ft facility comprising warehouse space and ancillary offices. A new pedestrian bridge would be built to link the new facility with Next’s existing operations north of Field Lane. The proposal also includes 47 HGV loading bays and road infrastructure works. The proposed development represents a capital investment £125m. It has been estimated to provide about 1,100 new jobs (including construction jobs) for Wakefield, of which more than half will be net additional roles. It could also generate an estimated gross value added (GVA) to the economy of more than £46m per annum. The new warehousing and distribution unit is required to cope with an expected increase in online sales for Next in the coming years. A planning statement submitted as part of the application said the proposed development would provide an “extension of the local purchasing, recruitment, skills development, career progression and community benefits already associated with the existing Next distribution operations in South Elmsall”. It would also assist in “safeguarding the future of Next’s existing operations in South Elmsall, and the substantial local employment and benefits to the local economy that this existing development provides”.
Construction work has officially begun on a new distribution centre based at Optimus Point in Leicestershire for laboratory and medical equipment supplier, Sarstedt Limited The facility was granted planning permission in the summer following the appointment of construction consultancy Gleeds by Wilson Bowden Developments. Gleeds is acting as the employer’s agent and project manager. The new distribution centre will be located on 5.3 acres of land at Plot 10 Optimus Point, Glenfield and requires the construction of a 61,640 square foot unit. It will include two-storey offices and core facilities. Other requirements of the site include associated external parking, a service yard, and landscaped areas. The facility is the latest addition to Optimus Point, a 65-acre development scheme that sits next to Junction 21a of the M1, featuring a range of local and national industrial warehouse operators. Construction is already underway and is expected to take 36-weeks, with an anticipated completion date of 1 May 2020. Cat Hartley, group manager for planning and economic development, Blaby District Council, said: “Sarstedt’s move to Optimus Point will deliver significant and permanent economic benefits to the District of Blaby. Up to 60 jobs will be retained locally.” Anthony Cork, director, Gleeds, commented: “There is no doubt that this new base will help Sarstedt improve its storage, logistics, and distribution with enhanced and modernised facilities, and it’s great to be starting on site. “Through our appointment as Employers Agent, we will look to use our significant skills in this sector to deliver a successful project for all parties.” Henry Henson, development manager at Wilson Bowden, added: “We are pleased that another local Leicestershire based company has decided to relocate to our Optimus Point development site, following in the footsteps of DPD, Boden, Everards, James Latham and Geary’s Bakeries. “These deals demonstrate that there has been extensive pent up demand by local occupiers, looking for high quality industrial/ warehouse accommodation within the local area and Optimus Point offers them this ideal opportunity.”
New building constitutes the third phase of development completed to date at the popular St Modwen Park development in Burton, Staffordshire. GMI Construction Group has announced the completion of a new 103,947 sq ft speculative distribution unit for leading logistics & industrial developer St Modwen in Burton One of the largest warehouse developments in the Midlands, St. Modwen Park Burton has outline consent for one million sq ft and is now home to a number of established occupiers, including Hellman Worldwide Logistics, Keylite Roof Windows, Supply Technologies and London City Bond. The unit, which includes 10 dock levellers (including 2 euro-docks), a 50m deep yard and Grade A office space, is the latest opportunity for businesses to join the popular scheme, which prominently fronts the A38 to the south of Burton-upon-Trent. The new unit could provide approximately 120 jobs once occupied, in addition to a significant number of construction jobs, which were created during the build by GMI Construction. Speaking about the project GMI Group Managing Director Andy Bruce said: “GMI is proud to have been trusted by St Modwen to deliver this important new building on time, on budget and to the highest possible standards – which is the promise we make on every project and our primary focus going forward. This project is the 4th logistics and industrial project we have been awarded and completed this year and further endorses our growing credentials in this sector”. Also commenting Rob Richardson, Senior Development Manager at St. Modwen Industrial & Logistics, said: “St. Modwen Park Burton is one of our key sites and a significant asset for the business. Our third phase of development expands the scheme’s offering, allowing us to meet market demand for quality, well-located space in the region. Our decision to speculatively build the 103,000 sq ft unit demonstrates our confidence both in the attractiveness of the scheme and in the wider industrial and logistics market.” For more information on St. Modwen Park Burton, please visit stmodwenlogistics.co.uk/property/st-modwen-park-burton/
A PLAN for a major new distribution centre in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter can go ahead, city planning officials have signalled. Titanic Quarter Ltd’s proposal would see full demolition of the existing industrial building on the site next to Queens Road, replacing it with a modern and larger 100,000 sq ft facility. Industry monitor Construction Information Services estimates the value of the project at just under £6 million. Most of the development (86,100 sq ft) will be dedicated to the new distribution warehouse, with another 7,000 sq ft set aside for a van storage centre. In a report prepared for Belfast City Council’s planning committee monthly meeting on Tuesday, 560 parking spaces will be provided on site. A total of 318 spaces will be specifically for delivery vans, with 161 set aside for drivers. Another 81 are earmarked for staff and visitors. That report recommends approval for the project. Titanic Quarter Ltd is a company set up to develop 161.5 acres within the Titanic Quarter ultimately owned by landlord Belfast Harbour Commissioners. It is one of a group of companies that makes up Titanic Property Development Ltd. The group has overseen around £425m of development projects to date, comprising around 1.5 million square feet. Its directors have valued the development land at £25.9m. The latest major development includes Olympic House on Queens Road. Enabling works on the £26.5m office building began in June. The most recent accounts for Titanic Property Development Ltd show it turned a pre-tax profit of £4.9m in the 12 months to December 31 2018, down on a pre-tax profit of £6.2m from 2017. Titanic Property Development Ltd’s ultimate controlling parties are the Entice Limited Partnership, owned by Irish businessman Dermot Desmond and Dockside Investments, which is owned by the family of Irish property developer Pat Doherty. The report states that both parent parties have confirmed they will not seek repayment of £26.3m of existing loans for the foreseeable future. Shareholder loans are subordinated to Danske Bank and Bottin Investments, which is also owned by Dermot Desmond. In 2017, Mr Desmond injected an additional £29m into the company. The Titanic group of companies also refinanced £75m worth of loans with Danske bank the same year.
The growing shift to online shopping by consumers is behind many of the recent well-publicised closures on the high street. But the trend is also bolstering tender opportunities in the industrial sector as new logistics and warehouse construction keeps growing to meet demand for distribution space. A recent trading update from Segro, one of the largest owners of logistics warehouses, suggests activity and tender opportunities in the sector remain brisk. The firm has seen a strong start to 2018 having secured a record £27 million of new rent in the first quarter and with occupational demand encouraging across all its markets, particularly driven by the growth of online retailing. Segro completed 146,500 sq m of new industrial construction projects in the first quarter. Moreover, the volume of new space either approved or with building projects under development across the group, stood at 1 million sq m at the end of March, up from 693, 900 sq m at the start of the year. Indeed, Glenigan’s Construction market analysis shows tenders are currently being invited on a £10 million Segro industrial building project in Newham, covering 4795 sqm and with work set to start in late 2018. £350 million development cap-ex Today, Segro’s development pipeline includes new pre-lets totalling 490,000 sq m, of which 270,000 sq m is to online retailers. At one key site, SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway, the pre-lets include 122,000 sq m to a major online retailer and 60,000 sq m to a third-party logistics provider. Overall, Segro expects its development capital expenditure to exceed £350 million for 2018. Elsewhere, the go-ahead for a third runway at Heathrow Airport is likely to boost construction tender leads in the industrial sector further, as the growth of air cargo creates extra demand for warehouse space in the area. Segro, which owns significant portfolio around Heathrow, is well-placed to benefit. The potential for construction projects for the internet shopping sector has also been highlighted by the recent surge in the share price of Ocado, the pioneer in grocery deliveries, which is set to join the FTSE 100 this month. The outlook for the group which has a major facility at Andover and is set to open a new one at Erith in coming months, has brightened recently helped by a series of international partnerships. Tender opportunities Meanwhile, the outlook for tender opportunities across the industrial sector remains promising. Glenigan Construction market analysis shows that the value of underlying industrial construction starts rose by 19% last year and were up by 1% in the four months to April this year, compared to the period last year. The regional picture varies but activity looks particularly strong in key regions such as the East of England (where the value of starts is up 95% in January-April), London (up 24%) and the West Midlands (up 52%). A mark of confidence in the sector in the East of England is the start of construction work in recent weeks on two speculative logistics units covering 350,000 sq ft which are being developed by Jaynic at Suffolk Park, near Bury St Edmunds. Readie Construction is expected to complete the scheme by next November.
Trebor Developments has appointed Sheffield based Construction Contractor J F Finnegan to construct Avion Plot 3C, Aero Centre, First Avenue, Finningley, Doncaster. Plot 3C Aero Centre, located at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, consists of the construction of two industrial/logistics units totaling approximately 105,111 sq ft, inclusive of first floor office accommodation. Site preparation works are already underway and the project is scheduled for completion in June 2020. J F Finnegan are no strangers to working in this region having delivered the Concrete Sleeper Production Facility at Ten Pound Walk for Trackwork Moll Limited and Warehouse & Office Units at First Point Business Park for The Catesby Property Group. Dawa Singh, Head of Pre-Construction at J F Finnegan commented, “We are delighted to have secured this project and look forward to working with Trebor Developments. J F Finnegan has played a significant role in similar schemes within the South Yorkshire region for over 70 years.” Commenting on the appointment Mark Wright, Partner at Trebor Developments, added, “We are very pleased to make the appointment of J F Finnegan to construct our “Avion”, Aero Centre, project, which we are developing in conjunction with our partners, Hillwood. JF Finnegan has a first-class track record and we look forward to seeing these leading edge, high quality industrial/logistic buildings coming out of the ground in the New Year and be available for occupation in June 2020.”
The first phase of a giant warehousing complex geared for the needs of online shopping is taking shape at Ipswich, off the A14. The Great Blakenham scheme – described as groundbreaking – will be a warehouse and distribution complex which is set to break with traditional norms with its building design. Developer Curzon de Vere said the aim was of Port One Logistics Park is to give e-commerce operations warehousing and distribution facilities geared to their needs. It said most e-commerce activities were being conducted from centre designed and built for other purposes and many operators were experiencing inefficiencies and high costs as a result. With leases agreed and planning approval in place, Anglia Building Services Ltd has started work on the first phase of the 60-acre site, off the A14’s junction 52, which will result in three units being built within the next year. The first 143,000sq ft unit has been designed for Ipswich-based Chinese fulfilment house operator FDS Corporation Ltd. FDS general manager Sheng Li said: “The past three years has shown us how well our Suffolk location works for us and our growth has given us the confidence to look at a new facility.” Ports and logistics solutions specialist Murray Gibson Associates Ltd, who is providing architecture services, said it was an “exceptional” project, with the building designed from the inside out. “It is very rarely that you get the opportunity of a completely clean sheet of paper on which to design an operation that not only exceeds the client’s original brief, but also ticks so many of the desirable supply chain features that this site in particular offers,” said the firm’s owner Murray Gibson. “Having perfected the internal layout and process flows, it was literally a case of wrapping the building around it.” A fulfilment house differs from conventional warehouses in its use of the ‘cube’ of the building rather than just focusing on the floor area, he explained. “This three-dimensional approach has enabled us to achieve a density of over 32,000 pallets of storage, nine-high with semi-automated locating.” It is thought that around a fifth of UK consumer purchases will be made online by the end of 2019, and that will increase to around a quarter by 2023, with the UK leading Europe in its growing preference for online shopping. “Behind the scenes, nothing short of a mini-revolution has taken place, largely unseen, that ensures our online purchases arrive where we want them and when, leaving us to get on with our busy lives,” explained Mr Gibson. “By cutting out multiple distribution centres and stores and delivering direct to the consumer, retailing is now embedded in the processes that enable us to buy products on our computer, tablet or smart phone. Orders are picked, labelled and marshalled for dispatch by courier and delivery companies to our chosen destination, offering an ever-widening number of options to suit our individual lifestyles.” Other buildings of between 50,000 and 700,000sq ft are planned for the logistics park. They will follow similar design principles, with planning consent for building heights of more than 20 metres. Easy access to the east and westbound carriageways of the A14 are key feature of the site, which will be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “Port One Logistics Park enters the market in exactly the right place and at the right time,” said Mr Gibson. “According to industry analysts Retail Economics, and demonstrated at this year’s United Kingdom Warehousing Association national conference, a further 44m sq ft of warehouse space needs to be built in the UK by the end of 2021 – just to meet the demands of the online retail sector.”
A project funded by AEW UK Investment Management, which has bought the site from Caddick Group in the stages to start construction. Wakefield 515, which will be speculatively built, marks the second phase of Crosspoint 33, an emerging warehouse & logistics hub by junction 33 of the M62 motorway. Caddick also built the first phase – a £100m 1.2m sq ft distribution centre now occupied by TJX Europe, parent company of retail brands TK Maxx and HomeSense. Myles Hartley, managing director at Caddick Developments, detailed thoughts on his company’s beds-and-sheds strategy. “As a group, our focus is on structurally-supported asset classes such as build-to-rent and industrial/logistics, where we see long-term growth potential,” he said. Caddick’s build-to-rent housing brand, Moda Living, opened its first development, Angel Gardens in central Manchester, last month. It is also due to start on-site with the first phase of its £300m SOYO neighbourhood in Leeds city centre, a 515-home BTR scheme that Caddick Construction will build for Moda Living.