Group completes first phase of 48-acre land sale to Microsoft
Property business Harworth Group has completed the sale of Plot 1, comprising 27 acres of land at its Skelton Grange site near Leeds, to technology giant Microsoft for £52.9m.
These include Plot 1 for gross consideration of £52.9m on an unserviced basis and Plot 2, which comprises 21 acres, to be sold on a serviced basis for gross consideration of approximately £53.2m. Completion of the sale of Plot 2 remains targeted for half one 2026.
Microsoft intends to use this land to accommodate a new hyperscale datacentre.
Harworth will retain 16 acres on which to promote about 250,000 sq ft of employment space. This is in addition to the roughly 77 acres owned by way of joint venture through The Aire Valley Land LLP at a neighbouring development – Gateway 45.
Servicing of Plot 1 will be completed by Harworth as development manager under a separate development agreement.
Upon completion of the sales of Plots 1 and 2, Harworth expects it will have invested around £48.7m in the site.
The former Skelton Grange power station site was bought by Harworth in December 2014 for about £3m.
The company has secured a series of deals at this location, including a 19.5-acre land sale to Enfinium in 2020, which is developing a 49MW energy-from-waste renewable electricity generation facility and the grant of a lease in 2021 to facilitate the development of a Battery Energy Storage System facility.
Once the development is complete, Skelton Grange is also expected to provide around 250,000 sq ft of Grade A industrial & logistics space.
About 28 acres of land will be returned to natural habitat, alongside improved green travel infrastructure.
Lynda Shillaw, chief executive at Harworth, said: “I am happy to be able to announce that we have completed the first phase of our landmark 48-acre land sale at Skelton Grange to Microsoft.
“Our technical teams are now fully mobilised and initial site works are underway. We continue to work closely with Microsoft and other key stakeholders as we focus on the full remediation and servicing of the site to enable the second tranche of the sale, which remains on track for H1 2026.
“Skelton Grange has the most challenging ground conditions of any of our sites and is a fantastic example of the value Harworth delivers as a leading regenerator of brownfield land through optimising our masterplans, deploying timely and effective investments into remediation and infrastructure and creating a scheme that has attracted a range of industries.
“Our long-term through the cycle model, agility in identifying and responding to opportunities and consistency in execution creates both value for shareholders and supports economic growth in our regions.
“The transaction with Microsoft has also further enhanced our existing expertise to include datacentres, and we continue to review our land portfolio for other potential value enhancing opportunities.”
