abrdn’s AIPUT fund (Airport Industrial Property Unit Trust) has announced the acquisition of Tesla’s Crawley base. The 1.1 acre, 17,000 sq ft site, located in the heart of Crawley, close to Gatwick Airport and the A23, has 14 years remaining on the lease.
The Crawley base, one of only eight Tesla locations serving London and the South-East, hosts a high-tech maintenance service facility, 8x supercharging points (available 24/7) together with an exciting showroom experience. A new substation installed on site delivers above industry standard power provision to the facility and added operational resilience to this business-critical base for Tesla. Tesla’s Crawley facility is well-placed to benefit from the accelerating growth in electric vehicle use across the South-East. The town – a recent bidder for city status – is set to see significant growth in future years, with the draft Local Plan envisaging 12,000 new homes and 20,500 new jobs by 2037.
Nick Smith, Fund Manager for AIPUT, commented: “This new addition to AIPUT’s Gatwick industrial portfolio sits in precise alignment with our strategy to diversify our portfolio, investing in market leading businesses that actively promote new technology, positive mobility and the critical decarbonisation of transport and logistics within the ecosystems of London’s primary airports.”
AIPUT’s Tesla transaction comes hot on the heels of the fund’s acquisition of the nearby Fleming Business Centre in October 2021. This established multi-let estate of seven units has a combined Gross Internal Area (GIA) of 95,000 sq ft. AIPUT’s existing Gatwick customer base includes Gate Gourmet at Viking House and World Duty Free at Gatwick Gate. Prime industrial rents in Crawley are moving close to the £16psf mark.
These latest acquisitions elevate AIPUT into the Top 5 leading owners of industrial real estate assets in and around Gatwick Airport, representing nearly 300,000 sq ft of space and upwards of £100m by value.
Gatwick Airport is in the midst of a consultation on its proposal for full utilisation of the second runway, which is expected to further accelerate economic and industrial sector activity in the wider Crawley area, offering greater global connectivity and a projected increase in capacity from 46.6m passengers using the airport in 2019 to 74m by 2029 – an increase of almost 60%.
AIPUT was represented by Kimmre and Eversheds Sutherland, with JM&CO acing for the vendor.
