Manish Chande’s and Martin Myers’ Mountgrange is buying a 90-acre development site in Aberdeen where it plans to speculatively develop a £215m mixed-use scheme.
The investment vehicle has joined with development company Generate Land to buy the first 30-acre phase of the site from a private investor. It has an option for the remainder of the land, which in total has consent for more than 1.5m sq ft of office, industrial and distribution space.
The Mountgrange Real Estate Opportunity Fund is ploughing £14.7m into the deal with the North Yorkshire-based developer, which focuses on sustainable development.
Plans for the low-carbon scheme have been designed with Aberdeen’s energy sector occupiers in mind, which include oil, gas and renewables companies.
It lies within Scotland’s Energetica corridor, an initiative between Scottish Enterprise, Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future to keep businesses in the area and encourage inward investment.
The partners will develop buildings for sale or lease, as well as selling land to owner-occupiers following infrastructure work.
Mountgrange partner Rob West said: “Aberdeen is established as the European energy capital. With a regional GDP per capita second only to London and a lack of speculative development, there is real demand for good-quality, new space.
“We identified several opportunities in the city and believe this scheme is the right one to both meet the demand for space from Aberdeen’s energy community and to deliver strong returns for our investors.”
It is the second “energy” investment made by the £300m fund in recent months. In April, it teamed up with green development firm R Land Energy to buy land and obtain planning consent for energy-from-waste centres at up to 40 sites across the UK.
FG Burnett has been appointed to market the project.
Aberdeen city council is seeking a partner to redevelop the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre and surrounding land – a total of around 40 acres. The council is keen for the first phase to comprise a four-star hotel. Redevelopment of the site was first considered in 2006, but halted due to high costs. The deadline for bids is 13 August.
Bridget.O’Connell@estatesgazette.com
