Legal & General Property and DB Symmetry have commenced work on the speculative development of an 110,000 sq ft industrial unit at M6EPIC, a 34 acre industrial site at Junction 25 of the M6.
The joint venture secured planning consent earlier this year for a total of 182,556 sq ft of industrial/warehouse space at the strategically positioned site in South Lancashire Industrial Estate. The remaining 70,000 sq ft allocated through the planning system may be added to the unit or developed at a later date.
Pochin Construction has now commenced development of the 110,000 sq ft unit on a six month programme of works which will facilitate delivery of the unit in December this year. Teams from CBRE, B8RE and Moriarty & Co are actively marketing the unit.
Located just five minutes away from Junction 25 of the M6 motorway, M6EPIC occupies a strategic position at the heart of the North West distribution market. The immediate area is home to a number of major high profile occupiers including; Heinz, Sports Direct, Siemens, Bakkavor Group, AB World Foods, Norbert Dentressangle, Carlsberg and Milliken Carpets.
Will Edwards, fund manager at Legal & General Property, said: “This high quality, well-located warehouse unit, which is due to be completed in six months’ time, is expected to be met with strong occupier appetite, satisfying a market where demand continues to outstrip supply and carefully designed, strategic space is key.”
Andrew Dickman, director at DB Symmetry, added; “Beginning work on site reaffirms our confidence in the North West industrial/warehouse market. Speculative development is always a carefully considered step to take. We are convinced that the M6 corridor demands high quality new space and we are responding to what the market needs.”
Paul Cook, director of industrial agency at CBRE Manchester, said: “With some 4m sq ft of pipeline take-up and only 3m sq ft of available space within the region, there is only around 11 months’ supply of quality industrial space in the North West making the timing of this speculative development impeccable. Online retailers are still driving the market and big occupiers are rapidly realising that there is very limited stock to satisfy their long-term requirements and as such, we are already handling keen interest in this unit.”