Hundreds of jobs in prospect at 30,000 sq ft Salford logistics scheme

The development site

Residential and logistics property specialist, Cole Waterhouse, has exchanged contracts to buy a development site next to the AJ Bell Stadium capable of supporting hundreds of jobs, both during construction and on completion.

The deal, with the City of Salford Community Stadium, a joint venture between Peel Land & Property and Salford City Council, is for an undisclosed sum.

Cole Waterhouse is based in Mosley Street, Manchester, and a London office.

Bounded by the Manchester Ship Canal to the south, the AJ Bell Stadium to the west and the M60 Manchester Outer Ring Road Barton Bridge to the east, the 15-acre site forms part of the wider Salford City Stadium development masterplan. The wider Port Salford Masterplan, which sits further west of the AJ Bell stadium, will become the UK’s first tri-modal inland port facility.

Cole Waterhouse is now working up a planning application for 300,000 sq ft of logistics space across two units, measuring 170,000 sq ft and 130,000 sq ft, with the aim of delivering these new facilities by the third quarter of 2023.

The construction phase is projected to provide 509 jobs, with employment for 684 people when the site is operational.

A full project team has been assembled by Cole Waterhouse, which includes C4 Projects carrying out architectural services, Henry Riley as project manager, Sixteen Real Estate and DTRE as letting agents and Metis Real Estate as capital markets advisor.

Damian Flood, Cole Waterhouse CEO, said: “Located close to Port Salford and the wider motorway network, this undeveloped site has huge future potential for a new logistics hub. We will be submitting a detailed planning application in June with the aim of achieving planning by September and starting on site immediately thereafter. As part of the development, we will also be undertaking a rebrand of the site, which we will announce later this year.”

Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, said: “The sale and planned warehousing is another important development for the stadium site as part of the long term growth ambition for this area, as a key component of the Greater Manchester Western Gateway.

“The Greater Manchester Western Gateway is a strategic growth location expected to deliver over £2.5bn investment and over 25,000 new jobs over the next 25 years.“

Paul Jones, partner at Metis Real Estate, said: “Located in one of the North’s most prime logistics locations, Cole Waterhouse will be delivering one of the strongest industrial schemes in the country on this site.

“We have already received speculative approaches to fund the development from some of the biggest names in the sector and will be working hard with our client in the coming months to secure a funder and deliver prime Grade A product to the market early in 2023.”

Andy Backhouse, director at Sixteen Real Estate, said: “The demand for high quality mid-box industrial in this area of Greater Manchester far outstrips supply. Cole Waterhouse’s proactive approach to delivering these new facilities will undoubtedly appeal to organisations looking for a foothold in this area of the North West.”

Further team members include XOSquare structural engineers, Terra97 Geo-environmental consultants, AXIS PED as highways consultant, Novo Integration as building services consultant and Lichfields as planning consultants.

Addleshaw Goddard, Sixteen Real Estate and Metis represented the purchaser while Savills, Cushman & Wakefield and Walker Morris (legal) represented the Vendor.

Cole Waterhouse is currently on site in Manchester at No.1 Old Trafford, a 214,000 sq ft residential scheme which is scheduled for completion mid 2021. In Wembley at First Way Campus it has developed the £100m 678-bedroom student accommodation for Manchester-based University Campus of Football Business (UCFB) and UNITE student living which completed in 2020.

A third scheme, for a 290-unit residential development at Anchorage in Salford, has recently secured planning.

Cole Waterhouse has also acquired one of Birmingham’s most significant redevelopment opportunities at Upper Trinity Street in Digbeth, Birmingham, which will see £260m of investment to develop a new cultural, commercial and residential destination across a 5.1-acre site.

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