UK university Imperial College London has bought a £115m (€138m) industrial site in West London from Segro, with plans to develop into a new technology innovation hub.
The 10-acre Segro Park Victoria Road urban warehouse estate in Park Royal has been owned by Segro since 2009 and is 64% occupied.
Imperial College will use the site to offer special facilities to young companies that are working on science projects that match the college’s goals. This is part of a larger plan to create a new area in West London called the WestTech Corridor.
The site has been identified for future mixed-use development by Imperial College’s partners Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation and Ealing Council as part of the area’s regeneration plans.
Bonnie Minshull, head of London at Segro, said: “Segro Park Victoria Road has performed very well for Segro over the past decade. This sale to a special purchaser, for the provision of commercial science and innovation facilities, allows us to reinvest the proceeds into our wider London portfolio.
“Imperial’s WestTech Corridor vision is a welcome initiative from a world-leading institution, adding another powerful driver of demand to London’s primary industrial and logistics cluster, in which Segro owns approximately 6m sqft of space.”
Hugh Brady, Imperial’s president, said: “Imperial College London is investing in its ambitious vision for a new globally competitive deep tech innovation ecosystem in West London.
“The Imperial WestTech Corridor will act as a powerful engine for investment, inclusive economic growth, and job creation at a local, regional, and national level supported by the government’s emerging industrial strategy.”
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