A North-East developer has completed the second of a pair of business parks delayed by the credit crunch.
In February the Hellens Group — which specialises in regenerating brownfield sites — finished the second phase of its Teal Farm Business Park near Sunderland. The initial work was completed in 2008 and let during the recession, but there was no bank finance available for the second phase.
Finance for the Washington site’s four remaining units was eventually provided though a £200,000 Growing Places Fund loan from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership [correct no hyphen] and a £680,000 grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Teal Farm is now 50 per cent let and the company is confident the units will be fully occupied by the end of the year. “We hope its success will be emulated by our other site at West Chirton,” said Hellens Group chief executive, Gavin Cordwell-Smith. “The level of enquiries has been significantly higher than at Teal Farm.”
His group already owned the West Chirton site, just off the A19 and near the northern entrance to the Tyne Tunnel, but like Teal Farm, the project was put on hold for a number of years because of the recession and a lack of available funding.
The initial 34,000sq ft at Elm Park Business Park — the first speculative North Tyneside business park build since the recession — has now been completed with tenants expected to move into the 17 units within weeks.
“We tend to find that businesses like to see units completed before committing themselves, but we’ve had a number of viewings already and are discussing terms with a number of parties,” said Cordwell-Smith.
“All the buildings are primarily aimed at small and medium-sized businesses and we’re hoping to attract manufacturers, possibly those working in the offshore field. From the interest we’ve received, there is significant demand,” he added.
Like the company’s Wearside site, Elm Park qualified for a variety of post-crisis incentives. The North East Local Enterprise Partnership and North-East Investment Fund [with hyphen] provided a £460,000 loan with another £1.1m coming from the ERDF. The £2.6m project was then topped up with the group’s own money.
The North East LEP manages the North East Investment Fund, which includes the Growing Places Fund. Money from the fund is reinvested to supply future loans for developments aiming to improve the region’s economy.
Jeremy Middleton is chair of the region’s LEP’s investment panel. “Hellens Group’s two business park projects are precisely the kind of developments that the LEP’s North-East Investment Fund was set up to support,” he said.
“Both Teal Farm and West Chirton are well-located and well-thought out developments, which will provide quality workspace for new and growing businesses in North Tyneside and in Washington. They have created jobs during the construction phases and will provide accommodation for further job creation once they are occupied.”
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