Proposals have been submitted to Redcar and Cleveland Council for full planning permission to develop a 1.7m sq ft data centre and communications building at the Wilton International industrial park in Redcar, North Yorkshire.
Since 2003, Sembcorp Energy UK has owned and operated the site, which is currently home to corporations including Sabic, Lotte and Huntsman.
The move follows an application for a “screening opinion” for the development filed to the council late last year.
The 32-acre site was formerly occupied by the Croda International but is currently vacant. The buildings associated with the Croda’s chemical operations were demolished in the early 2000s.
The proposed development comprises the removal of remaining buildings on site and construction of a data centre complex featuring main data centre buildings, communications building, site office, storage tanks, back-up bio-fuel generators and ancillary infrastructure.
The larger of the two buildings would have around 1m sq ft of space, while the smaller building would extend to 677,050 sq ft. In addition, the scheme includes a 21,500 sq ft two-storey site office building to the north-east of the main data centre.
Recent research by CBRE revealed global data centre vacancy levels are at an all-time low. The consultancy cited rapid growth of artificial intelligence along with other tech, such as streaming, gaming and self-driving cars, as key drivers of demand.
Heatons is advising on planning.
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