Henry Boot’s property investment and development arm has secured reserved matters planning consent for a £110m GDV industrial and logistics hub in Walsall.
HBD will develop three facilities totalling 464,000 sq ft in the first slice of a 620,000 sq ft project called Spark. The wider development is being delivered in partnership with Walsall Council, Homes England, West Midlands Combined Authority and Black Country LEP.
The former James Bridge Copper Works site, once the largest undeveloped brownfield site in the Black Country, is undergoing specialised remediation works, which HBD is set to complete in Q3 this year.
HBD said it is already seeing occupier interest. It is aiming to begin construction on the first space in Q4, with a target of being ready for occupation next summer.
The first facility is expected to add around £40m to HBD’s £154m-GDV committed programme.
Units at Spark will range from 20,000 sq ft to 254,000 sq ft. It is expected to create up to 1,100 jobs in the local and surrounding area.
Tim Roberts, chief executive at Henry Boot, said: “Industrials and logistics remains one of our high-conviction sectors and carrying out the specialised remediation works and securing detailed planning for the first three units at Spark is testament to HBD’s expertise in navigating an increasingly onerous and complex planning system.
“We are already seeing good occupier interest in the project, due to the lack of high-quality space with strong sustainability credentials in prime Midlands locations, which gives us confidence that we will have secured an occupier and started on site developing the first units by the end of the year. This new logistics and manufacturing hub will add to our growing industrial portfolio and replenish our committed development programme.”
Image from Henry Boot
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