Components manufacturer plans £50m logistics headquarters in Staffordshire
A COMPONENTS and assemblies manufacturer is setting up a new national headquarters in Staffordshire in a multi-million-pound investment.
The land deal alone is worth in excess of £50m.
Details of the firm involved have not been disclosed but commercial warehouse REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) Tritax Big Box said it had exchanged contracts (conditional on detailed planning consent) to provide forward funding for the development of a new logistics facility and headquarters at Four Ashes, near Wolverhampton.
The site, close to Junction 12 (Gailey) of the M6, is within just a few miles of the Jaguar Land Rover Engine Manufacturing Centre at the near i54 business park. It is also close to a proposed rail freight terminal.
In an update to the markets, Tritax said it had reached an agreement with a “leading global designer and manufacturer of components and assemblies” for a 25-year lease of the site.
Tritax said the investment price on the deal was £56.3m, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.14% (net of land acquisition costs).
The new unit will comprise a gross internal area of 543,692 sq ft. with expansion land to accommodate up to a further 101,139 sq ft.
The development is being undertaken by Bericote Properties. Construction of the main works is expected to begin next month (September) with practical completion estimated for July 2017.
The land purchase is being funded by Tritax from equity proceeds, with senior debt finance to be introduced in the near term.
Colin Godfrey, partner of Tritax, said: “We are very pleased to be investing in this new logistics facility and UK headquarters, which will benefit from significant capital investment by the tenant with the capacity to expand the unit to accommodate future growth plans.
“This is our seventh pre-let forward funded development and the third with Bericote, one of the UK’s leading developers of Big Box assets, following the successful completion of the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Ocado facilities.”
The lease on the Four Ashes site will be subject to five yearly upward only rent reviews indexed to the Retail Price Index, providing a minimum 2% pa rental growth (capped at 4% pa). During the construction phase, the company will receive an income return equivalent to the agreed rent from the developer. Further details regarding the tenant will be made available in due course.
Jones Lang LaSalle represented Tritax, with Dowley Turner Real Estate acting for the vendor.
