Industrial scheme expansion to accommodate 130 jobs
Free electricity for business tenants will be provided at an £8m light industrial scheme, which is underway in a new expansion at Thorp Arch Estate near Wetherby.
The electricity will be provided through solar photovoltaic panels fitted as standard to the new units, which will be operationally carbon net zero, and are being built for estate owner, Patrizia Hanover Property Unit Trust, as phase four of the Ash Way development.
The scheme will comprise nine light industrial units providing 93,527 sq ft of space, with individual units of between 4,000 sq ft and 31,527 sq ft.
It is expected to be complete in November this year and will become the base for around 130 jobs.
Tim Munns, director of Wharfedale Property Management, which manages Thorp Arch Estate, said: “As we offer tenants an out-of-town parkland setting, high environmental specifications are important to us.
“We are pleased to be providing solar photovoltaic panels with free electricity, particularly during the current energy crisis, and creating premises which will be operationally carbon net zero as part of moves to help tackle climate change.
“We are already receiving strong interest from potential occupiers. Solicitors have been instructed on an agreement for lease for Unit 21, the biggest in the new development at 31,527 sq ft, and there is significant interest in two other units.”
The industrial units are being built by Castlehouse Construction, Leeds, with property and construction consultants, LHL Group, York, acting for Patrizia Hanover Property Unit Trust.
The first Ash Way scheme was built in 2005 and comprises five units totalling 46,201 sq ft.
Phase two followed in 2016 with six units totalling 32,836 sq ft and Ash Way phase three was built in 2019 with five buildings totalling 48,152 sq ft. Business occupiers include life sciences company Avacta and Nuffield Health.
The 385-acre Thorp Arch Estate, a former war time munitions factory offering two million sq ft of commercial premises, is the base for more than 170 businesses which together employ more than 2,000 people.
