Rigby Group subsidiary Ostrava Properties has appointed Colliers International, D&P Holt and DTZ to market a major development opportunity at Middlemarch Business Park, at Coventry Airport.
The newly formed firm plans to create a 650,000 sq ft manufacturing and distribution hub on a 30-acre site, formerly the passenger waiting area at the airport.
A planning application has been submitted to Warwick district council and a decision is due in October.
Peter Holt, of D&P Holt, said: “This is a key scheme in the Coventry and Warwickshire area and its development would help to build on what is already a thriving commercial and industrial location.
“Coventry has experienced great demand in the industrial and distribution sectors over the past two years and there has been a shortage of development land in more recent times. This site will help to meet that need and allow the local economy to continue its growth. I am confident there will be strong interest from in- and outside Coventry and Warwickshire.”
The manufacturing and logistics hub forms part of the wider £280m Coventry and Warwickshire Gateway development. The site has long been identified as a key development site by the Coventry & Warwickshire LEP and plans for its wider redevelopment have previously met with local opposition. The proposals are backed by Sir Peter Rigby, IT entrepreneur and the airport’s owner.
Coventry has an acute shortage of employment land – especially spaces larger than 100,000 sq ft – and rising demand, according to recent Savills research.
Coventry and Warwickshire had the highest level of inward foreign investment per head outside London in 2013-14, according to UKTI figures.
