Speculative shed development in South Wales has more than doubled in the past year.
Industrial schemes under construction without a tenant in place total 523,000 sq ft across 11 schemes in the region, according to the latest figures from King Sturge.
While this is a jump from the 236,000 sq ft of speculative development built last year, the agent said that industrial development overall – including bespoke schemes and refurbishments – remained the same at around 730,000 sq ft.
Chris Sutton, joint managing partner of King Sturge’s Cardiff office, said: “The big difference is the upturn in speculative floorspace coming to the market. It indicates that developers are prepared to invest with confidence in strategic locations throughout South Wales.”
Sutton said the rise in speculative development was concentrated at the smaller end of the market, such as JR Smart’s latest 51,000 sq ft phase of the Capital Business Park in Cardiff, and the Welsh Industrial Partnership’s 70,000 sq ft development at Dafen Industrial Park, Llanelli.
Midas is also on site at Port Talbot, where it is building 60,000 sq ft at Baglan Energy Park.
