The Welsh Development Agency plays stage manager in the production of new works for the North Wales economy. Mark Moore reviews the action to date.
The key player in the commercial property development of North Wales – the Welsh Development Agency – is also the one most hidden from view. It works behind the scenes to create local infrastructure and establish business and industrial parks throughout the region.
The WDA’s brief is to create employment and attract investment into Wales where traditional industries have gone into decline – particularly in the north where steel making, coal mining and slate quarrying were once dominant.
WDA initiated, and still has big holdings in, North Wales’s two main industrial complexes – Deeside Industrial Park at Queensferry and Wrexham Industrial Park. It is planning an 80.9ha (200 acre)-plus extension to Deeside.
But, Mark Thomas of Flint-based developer David McLean Developments says that the extension is not expected to come on stream for some time and, in the meantime, its own nearby Interlinq scheme will be more likely to suit larger requirements.
The Interlinq complex at Queensferry – a 10.1ha (25 acre) site with planning permission for B1, B2 and B8 – is McLean’s third site in North Wales. The others are on the A55 at Bodelwyddan and on the A494, also at Queensferry.
“We’re marketing it in a series of plots for prelets. It’s a large, flat, accessible site, never previously developed, and suitable for large inward-investment enquiries,” says Thomas.
A key advantage of Deeside Industrial Park, he says, is its proximity to Chester and the direct access it has to the rest of the North West, coupled with the lower rents and grant assistance available by virtue of its location across the Welsh border.
Guy Williams of Universities Superannuation Scheme, which bought the park a number of years ago, says: “We can guarantee our occupiers 100% expansion potential, which gives them the security to be able to adapt and plan their accommodation requirements in line with company growth – without the upheaval and cost of relocation.”
In March, pizza-base manufacturer Canadian Pizza, a subsidiary of Paramount Foods, becomes the latest occupier on the park – having taken a 16-year lease on a 2,013m2 (21,665 sq ft) unit at £49,250 pa. Legat Owen advised landlord USS, while the tenant represented itself.
Easter Capital acquired Zone 3 of Deeside from the WDA at the end of 1997. This comprises 15,793m2 (170,000 sq ft) in five units with two development plots. Easter intends to build two WDA-assisted speculative units there, which will be ready for occupation in September. One unit is 2,090m2 (22,500 sq ft) with 50% expansion capability; the other is 4,645m2 (50,000 sq ft), expandable by 100%.
Also in Deeside Zone 3, Liberty Properties has completed an 8,826m2 (95,000 sq ft) unit for American fuel tank manufacturer Walbro Automotive. And nearby, the former Deeside Titanium site has been acquired by Smartstage which is developing a 32,515m2 (350,000 sq ft) factory and warehouse for sportswear manufacturer Umbro.
While the comprehensive upgrading of the A55 coast road has made a huge difference in terms of improving accessibility between the two halves of North Wales – east and west of the Clwyd hills – as well as forming a rapid access route into north-west England, it has also helped to maintain the division between the two areas.
Legat Owen’s Stephen Wade points out that the road – now dual carriageway from the end of the M56 all the way through to the Menai Bridge – has actually made it more likely for inward investors to stay in the flat eastern side rather than develop in the more mountainous western side because of the speedy access available in both directions along the A55.
Aside from the A55, which has become the development corridor of North Wales, the other significant axial plane is that centred on Wrexham, which serves the north-south corridor. Its assisted grant status makes the area attractive to manufacturers and industrial sites, which have become well established.
Wrexham Industrial Estate – also a WDA project – has more than 150 companies on 404.7ha (1,000 acres). Rents for new-build here are similar to those in Deeside – about £43 per m2 (£4 per sq ft). Secondhand space is approximately £38 (£3.50 per sq ft).
At Wrexham, Easter Capital bought a 46,450m2 (500,000 sq ft) portfolio from the WDA with 12.1ha (30 acres) of development land in 1996. Legat Owen’s Wade, acting for Easter Capital, says that Easter has put its buildings through a comprehensive refurbishment and upgrading programme. “When Easter came in, the vacancy rate was 36%. That’s now dropped to 15% – possibly 10% if all the current deals are realised,” he says.
Construction plant manufacturer JCB is doubling the size of its presence on the Wrexham estate with the construction of an 18,580m2 (200,000 sq ft) transmissions factory.
Industrial specialist James Brown at Mason Owen says: “There is presently around 6,503m2 (70,000 sq ft) available at Wrexham with rental levels at £30-£32 per m2 (£2.80-£3 per sq ft). The estate also has development land available for bespoke units.”
Wade concludes: “The pattern, both at Deeside and Wrexham, shows that the industrial market in eastern parts of North Wales has had a very good 12 months.” And Brown agrees, saying: “The industrial market remains steady and we expect enquiry levels to increase in 1998.”
Further afield, the WDA is promoting the existing Bryn Cefni estate at Llangefni in Anglesey as a venue for Irish companies looking to establish a presence in the UK, and for companies looking to cross the Irish Sea without establishing an Irish base.
And at Penrhos in Anglesey, following its development in 1997 of a Tesco foodstore, developer Morbaine has put in a planning application on a site opposite for a 3,716m2 (40,000 sq ft) non-food retail, pub and fast-food scheme.
The primary centres for industrial space investment on the coast are at Llandudno Junction and Llandegaii at Bangor. But Wade stresses: “These are primarily offering a range of premises for local services companies rather than major inward manufacturers.”
On the office side, a primary new development is the Redrow Commercial scheme at St David’s Park in Flintshire, about 8 miles west of Chester, at the junction of the arterial A55 and A494 roads. It is a mixed-use scheme comprising a business park, a residential element, a 145-bed hotel and a golf course on 55.4ha (137 acres).
Redrow Commercial’s Dan Walker reports that a second phase is now under way with quoting rents about £22 per m2 (£2 per sq ft) lower than those on Chester Business Park. Apart from Redrow’s own HQ building, other occupiers in the park’s first phase of 14,600m2 (150,000 sq ft) of offices are Flintshire county council, Allied Dunbar, Scottish Amicable, Barclays Bank and Kimberley Clark.
Mason Owen’s Stuart Keppie says that the office market has shown “some signs of improvement over the past 12 months, principally for better-quality space”.
Keppie adds that the most significant, recent investment deal was the sale of the four-building Lakeside sector of St David’s Business Park, owned by Linross, to investor IRL-UK for £4.05m.
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Transactions
Menai Retail Park, Bangor: Retail. Recent new tenants on Morbaine’s park include Currys, which has taken 1,394m2 (15,000 sq ft), and Carpetright, Allied Carpets and Petsmart each taking 929m2 (10,000 sq ft). All the lettings were on 25-year leases at £102 per m2 (£9.50 per sq ft). Agents for Morbaine were DTZ Debenham Thorpe and Bolton Birch. Park Avenue, Aberystwyth: Retail. Donaldsons, representing Kwik Fit Properties, has acquired the former Finance Co-operative’s 929m2 (10,000 sq ft) space from the landlord, Ceredigion county council. Terms were a 25-year lease at £26,000 pa and a 12-month rent-free period. |
North Wales
