A joint venture company has submitted plans for the first phase development of a multi-million pound logistics and manufacturing hub in Yorkshire.
The London-headquartered Evans Property Group and Keyland Developments, a sister company of Yorkshire Water, have joined forces to form Aire Valley Land for an initial project at Temple Green, a 165-acre site next to the M1 and within Leeds Enterprise Zone. Fed by the motorway’s Juntion 45, Temple Green is the largest of four development sites located in the zone which covers 350 acres and is expected to deliver at least 9,500 jobs by 2025.
Leeds City Council was recently awarded £8.57m from the Government’s Enterprise Zone Capital Grant Fund to accelerate remediation and infrastructure work across all four sites. Temple Green — which already has consent for some three-millionsq ft of industrial, advanced manufacturing and storage and distribution space — is seeking £5m from the grant pot.
Part of the Aire Valley applications are for remedial and infrastructure ground work and the creation of 20 acres of development platforms ready for future construction projects. The joint venture also wants to build a park and ride transport interchange, 200,000sq ft of motor dealerships and a petrol filling station to service the park and ride users and nearby occupiers.
It is hoped the development costs will also be topped up with a £4m loan from Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership’s Growing Places Fund. “The combination of grant and LEP funding will unlock this prime site, crucially enabling significant infrastructure and servicing works to be brought forward, and making the entire scheme deliverable and open for business,” explained James Pitt, development director at the Evans Property Group.
“By preparing the site to be development-ready, we are now in a position to talk to customers about their requirements and start the process of creating a major logistics hub within Leeds,” he added. “We are delighted to be moving ahead with this exciting scheme and to be a step closer to attracting inward investment into Leeds, leading to large scale job creation for the city region.”
The completion of infrastructure work will also open up the 25 acres of Phase Two development of 500,000sq ft of industrial, manufacturing, and logistics space. Plans for the final two phases include one-million sq ft of space, split between two buildings, with another 600,000sq ft being added later. Aire Valley Land expects to spend £96m across all four phases.
Peter Garrett is managing director of Keyland Developments. He feels the Leeds Enterprise Zone is undoubtedly one of the most significant projects within the Leeds city region. “The 165-acre Temple Green site is strategically important due to its immense potential to attract investment and occupiers to the region,” he said.
“The site’s ability to accommodate stand-alone buildings of up to half-a-million square feet will provide an offering that the market desperately needs at a time when confidence is returning to Yorkshire.”
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