Palmer Capital and its co-owners have sold the 200-acre Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent, the former UK headquarters of Pfizer, after a four-year turnaround programme.
The site has been bought by Discovery Park Estates, a special purpose vehicle owned by two high-net-worth individuals, Simcha Green and Bernard Spitz.
Since Palmer purchased the site with co-shareholders Trevor Cartner and Chris Musgrave, it has increased occupation from 15% and five companies to 150 companies and 65% occupancy. Developed space on the site totals 1.5m sq ft.
When Pfizer left the site in 2012 it was a major blow to the local economy and the UK pharmaceuticals market.
The original shareholders will continue as owners of Parkserve, the company that manages Discovery Park on day-to-day basis, and as owners of the residential land surrounding the park. The existing Discovery Park management team of managing director Paul Barber, finance director Kevin Howes and leasing director Anna Stone will remain in place.
The park is a hub for life sciences, biotech and technology companies, with research and development laboratories and nice manufacturing facilities, offices and warehouses. Building 500, a 70,000 sq ft manufacturing space, is currently under development, as is a new biomass renewable energy plant.
Barber said: “When the previous investors acquired the site in 2012 it was always the intention that once the business park had moved onto a sound footing they would move on to new ventures.
“The success of the site has been such that we have reached this stage perhaps a year ahead of schedule.”
Spitz added: “The site is recognised globally as a cutting-edge hub for science, business and technology and that is something we intend to develop even further in the future. We also fully intend to implement the previous owners’ plans to develop other facilities on the site as soon as possible.”
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