Leading investor, developer and asset manager Mirastar has committed to a multimillion-pound funding agreement to help deliver 285,000 sq ft of high quality industrial and warehousing space in a prime South Yorkshire location.
The KKR-backed firm, which now has a total UK portfolio of 3.2m sq ft, will fund the speculative Catalyst scheme at Sheffield Business Park with developers Premcor and Peveril Securities, and work has now started on site, with practical completion due March 2023.
Five units of 22,354 to 108,237 sq ft at the prime 18-acre site just off the M1, will be to let on completion, with the scheme expected to create around 500 jobs.
Agents Knight Frank, Gent Visick and M1 have been appointed to market the units suitable for warehouse and distribution, general industrial and manufacturing, which all sit in Sheffield City Region’s Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District and front directly onto the main arterial route Sheffield Parkway.
Robert Brophy UK Asset Management at Mirastar said: “We’re excited that speculative construction has started on this prime development site which will offer much needed supply into the Sheffield market. The exceptional location within the wider Sheffield Business Park, the Advanced Manufacturing district and immediate transport links are unparalleled. We’ve surrounded ourselves with a great professional team and look forward to presenting the scheme to the market.”
Rebecca Schofield, partner and head of the Yorkshire industrial team at Knight Frank, said: “This is the final phase of development at Sheffield Business Park, which offers an advantageous location in a prime position to meet the needs of a wide range of occupiers; growth opportunities and excellent labour resources to occupiers wanting to expand or relocate to the region.
“The site enables occupiers to be at the cutting edge of UK manufacturing and within the north’s new logistics hotspot. Catalyst forms part of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMID), a world leading, research-led Advanced Manufacturing cluster along the Rotherham-Sheffield corridor.”
Daniel Walker at Gent Visick added: “Catalyst at Sheffield Business Park will provide much needed prime employment / logistics buildings into a market where demand is continuing to outstrip supply. The site sits in a prominent gateway position just off J33 of the M1 which will be an attractive offering to both national and regional businesses.”
Henry Watson at M1 added: “Catalyst sits within an unrivalled last-mile location, which has direct access into central Sheffield and the wider South Yorkshire conurbations, where an unprecedented growth in demand has been met with limited prime last-mile logistics opportunities. Proximity to customers is becoming ever important as goods need to be moved quicker and more often, intensifying the demand for space in last-mile locations.
“The rise of the convenience economy driven by mobile technology has created a drastic rise in demand of last-mile logistics operations, with 3.5 billion parcels being delivered domestically in the United Kingdom during the fiscal year of 2020-21.”
The units will be finished to a high specification including target EPC rating ‘A’, minimum BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’, PIR controlled LED lighting to the offices and a rooftop solar PV system ready, reflecting the environmental demands from occupiers. Units will also have 50 KN loading, up to 15m eaves (for the larger units) fitted offices with mechanically ventilated systems, suspended ceilings and raised access floors will also be included. Externally the units will feature gated service yards with 24-hour access, security lighting, covered cycle shelter and on-site car parking.
Industrial occupiers in the area already include Tufnells, Clipper, Great Bear, University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), UK Atomic Energy Authority (UK AEA) and University of Sheffield Factory 2050.