A joint venture (JV) partnership has purchased a former automotive component manufacturing site in Erdington, Birmingham, to speculatively build 300,000 ft2 (28,000 m2) of Grade A urban logistics and industrial space.
Developer Chancerygate, which has an office in Birmingham, and specialist sustainable and impact investor Bridges Fund Management have bought the 12-acre (5 ha) site.
The JV purchased the site for an undisclosed amount and marks the partnership’s largest site acquisition to date.
The partners intend to develop 300,000 ft2 of space across 26 leasehold units ranging from 5,000 ft2 to 60,000 ft2. Once complete, the development will have a gross development value of £85 mln (€99 mln).
The proposed development will be located on Chester Road in Erdington, on a site that previously housed a leading supplier to the automotive sector. On the outskirts of Birmingham city centre, it is also in close proximity to both junction 5 and 6 of the M6.
Neighbouring occupiers to the proposed development include Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and Selco Builders Warehouse, as well as further retail and industrial parks.
Commenting on the acquisition, Chancerygate development manager, Rob Watts, said: 'Acquiring what is regarded as one of the most prominent sites in Birmingham is a huge statement of intent for our partnership with Bridges and underlines our strong belief in the urban logistics sector.
'There is unsatisfied demand for high-specification units in prime locations within the city. We aim to address this through the regeneration of a redundant building into new Grade A sustainable accommodation which is fit for purpose for a range of prospective occupiers.'
Founded in 1995, Chancerygate is the UK’s largest urban logistics property developer and asset manager and the only one operating nationwide.
In addition to Birmingham, the company has offices in London, Warrington, and Bristol. It currently has around 2.65m ft2 of urban logistics space under construction or ready for development across 19 sites ranging from Edinburgh to Chichester.
Bridges is a specialist sustainable and impact investor. It has been working in partnership with Chancerygate on projects for more than 10 years.
Investments include the acquisitions of sites for industrial development in Edinburgh, Leeds and Coventry; the regeneration of Beeston Business Park, Nottingham; and the development of ‘The Curve’, a student housing development in London SE1.
Bridges partner Guy Bowden added: 'Across the Bridges platform, we’re developing some of the UK’s most sustainable logistics buildings.
'We’re delighted to secure this excellent site in Erdington, and we’re confident that given its prime location, there will be strong occupier demand for these high-quality, highly sustainable logistics units.'
Chancerygate and Bridges were advised on the site acquisition by Nick Collins at NRC Associates and Gerald Eve. Knight Frank advised the vendor.
