Pressure on space is forcing occupiers in Sussex to widen their search for property beyond traditional centres such as Crawley and Brighton. Edward Thomason at Knight Frank says that, in Crawley, buildings developed in previous bursts of speculative development are not being replaced.
“The Crawley market is driven by the air industry, which has done quite badly over the past couple of years,” he says. “Demand now seems to be recovering, but it is coming back at a time when there isn’t much speculative development going on.”
This could cause a switch to the prelettings – but also means that companies may have to consider properties further afield. “Traditional Crawley occupiers are now looking at other locations, such as East Grinstead and Horsham,” says Thomason.
Tim Clement, a senior associate at King Sturge, says that, as well as confronting a tight supply of property, occupiers such as those in Crawley can have difficulties recruiting staff.
Among those taking space in Crawley is toy wholesaler Great Gizmos, which signed last December a sublease on Barlow House, a 27,000 sq ft building that it will use as a distribution centre. In addition, Big Food Group has taken a 40,000 sq ft building at Focal Point in Fleming Way.
David Emburey, head of industrial at Jones Lang LaSalle, says that development in Crawley has been “stagnant” in recent years but that there is potential for large-scale development in parts of Sussex. There is certainly interest from developers in the mid-Sussex area. For example, Gazeley is believed to have earmarked for development the 27-acre Warnham Brickworks site in Horsham, which could accommodate up to 500,000 sq ft of large-scale sheds.
Larger occupiers
Equity Estates is due to complete the purchase of a 13.5-acre Ericsson facility in Burgess Hill by the end of March. It then plans to develop a 250,000 sq ft industrial estate. Also in Burgess Hill, Onslow Estates is developing 86,000 sq ft at Mid-Sussex Business Park. The scheme is due to complete by the autumn.
Chris Oakley of Oakley Commercial says that Burgess Hill is now attracting larger occupiers from Brighton that are suffering from the city’s severe land supply problems. “A lot of companies have already moved up the A23 and much of the industrial land we have got left is being swallowed by the residential market. Brighton hasn’t really got any big sites left owing to its geographical location.”
But one scheme making progress in Brighton is the second phase of St Modwen’s Woodingdean Business Park, which offers eight units totalling 27,000 sq ft, four of which were presold. St Modwen is shortly to submit a planning application for the next phase of development which will involve combined office and industrial buildings.
Oakley says that the lack of land means development is being pushed out of Brighton. “The pressure on the city means that development is running over into smaller sites along the coast,” he says. For example, at the Tungsten development in Shoreham, 12 freehold units of between 1,400 sq ft and 2,000 sq ft, which can be used for offices or production facilities, will be completed this spring.
Speculative development is also taking place at the former gasworks in Bognor Regis. Handston Properties, which bought the 1-acre site from Secondsite Properties, has planning permission for six units, totalling 15,000 sq ft, due for completion in September.
