Two of Birmingham’s biggest property packages are being offered for sale. The largest contains more than a million square feet of industrial space, with the second offering around 100,000 sq ft of educational and office space.
Consultants Colliers has been retained by Standard Life Investments to sell the 80-acre Gravelly Industrial Park, next to Junction 6 of the M6 motorway. The largest multi-let industrial estate in Birmingham, the site lists Carlsberg, Continental Tyres and the multinational outsourcing company, Bunzl, among the tenants of its 78 units.
There are a number of vacant units at Gravelly Park, ranging from 1,700 to 30,000 sq ft. Nevertheless, claims Peter Monks, associate director of Colliers’ Midlands industrial and logistics team, “Gravelly Industrial Park is a fantastic example of an established, large scale, multi-let industrial scheme which offers occupiers a breadth of refurbished units to satisfy a range of requirements.
“Its strategic location, close to Spaghetti Junction and with direct access to the city via the Aston Expressway, means that Gravelly can tap into a large labour pool, all within a 30 minute drive of the estate.
“This is a big plus for many operators looking for industrial or warehousing space and is reinforced by the high quality operators already in occupation,” Monks added.
In a separate offering, CPBigwood is handling the disposal of a range of properties owned by Birmingham’s South and City College. All the buildings — to be made available throughout the spring and early summer — have become redundant following the merger of South Birmingham College and City College Birmingham two years ago.
The biggest of the five properties on the market is the 67,000 sq ft Tyseley Campus. The others are: the purpose built 19,500 sq ft Aston Centre; Saltley Centre, a 16,770 sq ft, college block; the 11,087 sq ft Balsall Heath Centre — thought suitable for continuation of educational use but with potential for conversion to residential with some retail — and the 2,300 sq ft Overtons Garage in Hall Green.
Two of the properties, the Aston and Saltley centres, are let to Birmingham City Council, with the others available with vacant possession.
Ian McPhillips is a commercial property partner at the Birmingham-based consultancy. “This is a very substantial portfolio and we are very pleased to have been asked to market these properties,” he said. “We have already experienced a high level of interest which is promising and we expect to generate even more.”
