CBRE's Lending team has secured a £54 mln (€64 mln) loan from the South Yorkshire Pension Fund (SYPF) to finance Panattoni Park Central A1(M) near Doncaster, UK.
This is the largest single investment made by the Fund since its establishment in 2019.
The 71,535 m2 industrial and logistics unit is expected to be the largest speculative development of its kind in the North of England. The project is designed with sustainability in mind, aiming for BREEAM Outstanding certification, EPC A+ (offices) and A (warehouse) ratings, and net-zero carbon emissions.
George Graham, Fund director at South Yorkshire Pension’s Authority, said: ‘The northern industrial and logistics market is one of the most resilient in the country, reporting growth in take up and decreasing availability of space. Market conditions are therefore not only favourable for this development, but it will also benefit greatly from its environmental credentials and excellent connectivity in an established region.’
Andrew Antoniades, head of Lending, CBRE added: ‘Our Lending platform has long supported development across the UK with debt, and always supported key regional markets. This new loan is a strong investment for our South Yorkshire lending programme to a best-in-class sponsor and will drive job creation and economic growth in the area. Providing flexibly structured debt finance is crucial to our offering and we continue to have strong appetite for loans across all key asset classes with similar attractive characteristics.’
Panattoni has purchased a 26.3-hectare plot of land on the border of Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. This land already has planning permission for the construction of over 1.2 million square feet of commercial space.
Construction of the first phase of the project is expected to be completed by September 2025.
The cross-docked unit will have a ceiling height of 18 metres, service yards of 55 metres, electric vehicle charging stations for both vans and cars and 15% of the roof will be made up of skylights.
The remaining 27 acres of land will be marketed for development on a build-to-suit basis.
The SYPF, which supports economic growth in South Yorkshire, has been managed by CBRE's Lending team since 2019. To date, the Fund has invested approximately £200 mln (€237 mln) in 11 local projects, including a recent £46 mln (€54 mln) investment in student accommodation in Sheffield and a £33 mln (€39 mln) investment in another industrial development.
