Joint venture to speculatively develop 600,000 sq ft industrial schemes
The Richardson family has paired up with a leading property developer to pave the wave for two new industrial warehouse schemes in the Midlands.
The family, best known for developing the giant Merry Hill complex, is linking up with property development and investor, St Francis Group. Like the Richardsons, St Francis is a specialist in brownfield development and regeneration.
The joint venture will see the development of more than 600,000 sq ft of new industrial and warehouse space in prime locations in Redditch and Kettering.
In Redditch, Velocity 42 is a 20-acre site at Park Farm Industrial Estate, upon which 330,000 sq ft of industrial and warehouse space will be constructed in a range of sizes from 39,000 to 141,000 sq ft. Work is expected to start on site in summer 2018 with practical completion during 2019.
In Kettering, Cransley Park is a prime new business park development on junction 8 of the A14, upon which 270,000 sq ft of industrial and warehouse space will be constructed in a range of four units from 25,000 to 100,000 sq ft. Work is expected to start on site this spring with practical completion in early 2019.
As part of the agreement St Francis has completed the sale of both sites to the Richardson family. The joint venture partnership will speculatively develop both schemes.
Both sites were originally acquired by St Francis as brownfield sites and were subsequently fully remediated by its group sister company DSM Demolition. Full planning consents have since been secured for industrial and warehouse development.
Gareth Williams, development director at St Francis Group, said: “This is an exciting partnership between two likeminded businesses who are committed to developing a range of high quality warehouse and industrial units in key strategic locations.
“We have invested in these sites to create development ready opportunities and now with this announcement we will deliver much needed space into strong regional markets where the supply is currently limited. This partnership also marks another step forward in the evolution of the St Francis Group as we continue to leverage the land-assets in our portfolio.”
Mark Watkins, director at Richardson, said: “We are very pleased to be partnering with St Francis on the development of both sites which offer outstanding locations for logistics and industrial type requirements in key regional markets presently starved of supply.
“With the combined track record and experience of both companies we are confident of attracting occupiers to each development opportunity and are already fielding several enquiries from prospective parties which we expect to announce details of shortly.”
