Two of the leading providers of logistics buildings within the UK have joined forces with Clowes Developments confirming that they are working in collaboration with the Global Logistics Provider, Panattoni and have now started on site building a Regional Distribution Centre of some 48,402m² (521,000ft²) which will be completed January 2020.
Northampton based Winvic Construction, who specialise in building distribution facilities, have started onsite with the 12 month build programme on Plot 1 at the East Midlands Distribution Centre.
The 521,000ft² cross docked warehouse is being developed speculatively to cater for the increased demand for distribution space within the northern part of the East Midlands region with Junction 24 in particular seeing the benefit of this trend with Marks & Spencers, Aldi, Amazon, Littlewoods and Nestle all having chosen the area for their national / regional distribution networks.
The significance of this development is that this building is being built on a speculative basis. There is no end occupier identified for the property as of yet hence the reason why Clowes Developments have teamed up with the global provider, Panattoni, whose Global Investors have continued to support their expansion drive within the UK.
Paul Shanley, Development Director at Clowes Developments, confirmed:-
“By teaming up with Panattoni we can deliver the largest single building that we can provide now on EMDC adjacent to the one million square foot e-commerce centre occupied by Marks & Spencers which leaves us with a further 30 acres to develop within the park which still gives us the ability to cater for units from 40,000ft² to 300,000ft² in size”.
Both Clowes Developments and Panattoni are very active within the immediate region – Clowes are shortly launching their 60 acre employment site at Clifton and are working up a further 20 acres at Castle Donington which should be brought forward in 2020.
Panattoni are onsite in both Derby and Nottingham – at the Derby Commercial Park a 371,000ft² unit is due for completion in August of this year whereas at J26 the Developers are building the largest speculative development within the region with their 714,000ft² three unit scheme now nearing completion.
Both companies are acquisitive and seeking new opportunities to expand their UK portfolios.
John Proctor of Regional Agents FHP brokered the deal and confirmed:-
“Bringing two of the major players in the distribution sector together provided the right chemistry to enable this significant inward investment project to be delivered at EMDC.
I have worked with Clowes and the Directors of Panattoni for the past 20 years and the respective strengths of the two Developers complement each other to bring forward a unit of regional importance which can meet the continued demand that the Junction 24 area is generating. Castle Donington and Junction 24 continues to grow both as a town but more so as a location of not just regional significance but international significance with the recent announcements of further investments at East Midlands Airport”.
The completed unit will internally provide clear space with a minimum height of 18m eaves, is roughly the size of six football pitches and is one of the largest buildings to be built within the region.
It is anticipated that upon completion it could provide up to 1,000 jobs.
FHP are Joint Agents on EMDC with Savills – the Solicitors who were involved in the transaction were the Leicester Office of Gateleys on behalf of Clowes and Ashurst LLP who acted for Panattoni.
