AEW has announced it has signed a 15-yr lease with global online fashion retailer, ASOS, for a 437,000 sq ft warehouse located at Fradley Park, Lichfield in the West Midlands. The warehouse forms part of the joint venture between AEW and Allianz Real Estate launched in February 2019, focused on develop-to-core opportunities in prime locations within the UK logistics sector.
Fradley 437 achieved Practical Completion in March of this year. The high-spec site benefits from 15M eaves height, 100 metre yard and a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’. It is the last major development plot on Fradley Park Industrial Estate at Lichfield, which is an established location for logistics distribution centres occupied by companies including Tesco, DHL, Screwfix, Tile Giant, Newell and Great Bear Distribution. In addition, it sits at the heart of the country’s motorway network being 4.5 miles from T4 and T5 of the M6 Toll Road. Located on the A38, it has excellent access to the M1, M42, M40, M6 and A50 and is close to both Birmingham International and East Midlands airports.
Following this letting, there remains one unit under development, 515,000 sq ft at J33 of the M62 in Wakefield, and only one vacant unit in the portfolio – EMDC 525, which totals 525,000 sq ft, at J24A of the M1 in the East Midlands, where there is a good level of tenant interest.
Nick Winsley, Managing Director and Head of Investments at AEW UK Investment Management commented: “We are delighted to have secured ASOS as a tenant at this key location, as it continues to grow its business across the world. There continues to be strong demand for Grade-A warehousing, where supply at the larger end is more limited and we look forward to continuing with our funding programme in the new year”
Charlie Royle, Executive Director at AEW UK Investment Management commented: “It has been a pleasure working with ASOS over the past few months and we are pleased to be welcoming them to Fradley 437. The high standard market leading specification of the property fully supports their long-term growth ambition. We look forward to working with additional occupiers on the expanding AEW UK Logistics portfolio at EMDC 525 and Wakefield 515.”
Kari Pitkin, Head of Business Development for Europe, Allianz Real Estate said: “As we build our logistics venture in the UK against the favourable backdrop of limited availability and increasing tenant demand for larger format warehouses, we are pleased to bring ASOS into Fradley Park. More broadly, the logistics sector continues to represent a key focus within our diversification strategy. We expect for strong market fundamentals in the sector such as the growth of online shopping and supply chain rationalization, to continue to offer growth opportunities through investments in prime real estate in excellent locations.”
MWRE and Avison Young, represented the landlord and Knight Frank represented ASOS.