Harworth seeks developer for Cutactre site
PROPERTY consultants DTZ and Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) have been jointly instructed by Harworth Estates to find a development partner for its 200-acre strategic employment site at Cutacre near Bolton.
Cutacre, which is at Junction 4 of the M61 motorway, is a former mining site for which up to 3.5m sq ft of manufacturing and distribution units are planned, which could lead to more than 4,000 jobs being created over the short-to-medium term.
Subject to demand, it is expected that the first units could be occupied during 2013.
Tony O’Keefe, director of DTZ’s industrial and logistics team in Manchester, said: “The importance of the site cannot be underestimated. Cutacre has the potential to be the most significant scheme in the region, going a long way to redress the supply imbalance of industrial stock in the North West of England.
“Grade A supply currently stands at circa 1.9 million sq ft, equating to around one and a quarter year’s supply.
“This follows a series of notable transactions within the larger logistics sector over the past 12 months that has soaked up the bulk of built space remaining from the last development cycle.
He continued: “As a result, occupiers are increasingly being forced to look outside the region or to progress pre-let, design and build solutions, for example Brake Brothers in Heywood and Waitrose in Chorley.
“This supply imbalance is further demonstrated by a return to strategic land purchases by notable developers including Evander Properties – a strong barometer highlighting the supply imbalance and supporting an argument for speculative construction in the next few years.”
