The Aire Valley Land LLP, the joint venture between Harworth Group and Evans Property Group, has exchanged contracts for the sale of 43 acres of commercial development land at its Gateway 45 Leeds site to PLP in one of the largest commercial transactions in the UK in 2019. The site will be acquired by PLP’s flagship investment vehicle, the PLP UK Logistics Venture (UKLV), which is owned by majority investor Ivanhoe Cambridge alongside Peel Group, MIRA Real Estate and PLP management. This acquisition complements other recent purchases by PLP in Sheffield, Crewe and Knowsley which will take the value of UKLV’s Assets Under Management (AUM) to c.€579m (£500m) on a completed basis.
PLP will now work with AVL LLP to begin earthworks and on and off-site infrastructure for c. 850,000ft² of industrial & distribution scheme. Subject to planning, work will begin on constructing these new units in Summer 2020.
The Gateway 45 site is adjacent to Junction 45 of the M1 that extends to 166 acres and has outline planning consent for 2.64 million ft² of commercial space. Aire Valley Land LLP has spent the past four years preparing the site for development following its designation as an Enterprise Zone, including completing a €8.7m (£7.5m) infrastructure and ground works programme using a loan facility from the Leeds City Region LEP and Grant from DCLG.
Jeremy Greenland, CEO of PLP commented: “We are very excited about this acquisition, which provides a clear opportunity for PLP to deliver high-quality logistics space in a variety of configurations for occupiers. Beyond this and our other three recent acquisitions, we continue to look for prime logistics developments and assets in key markets.”
James Pitt, Development Director at Evans Property Group, commented: “This is an excellent outcome for all concerned which will deliver a significant proportion of the jobs promised when the Enterprise Zone was initially created. AVL LLP’s focus now is to assist PLP to get on-site as quickly as possible so that thousands of new jobs can be delivered for the City Region to benefit from.”
Ian Ball, Chief Operating Officer at Harworth Group, added: “This deal caps a superb first four months of 2019 for the Aire Valley Land Joint Venture with the agreed sale of 60 acres of employment land in three separate transactions to high-quality counterparties. PLP has an experienced team with a proven track record and I have no doubt that they will make a success of their development.”
Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor Judith Blake said: “This deal is very welcome as it brings significant new investment into Leeds and the Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone, enhancing economic growth, job creation and innovation in the area and the city. It is a further endorsement of the attractiveness of the enterprise zone, adding to the significant employment developments that have already taken place and the exciting pipeline of major schemes coming forward including the University of Leeds High Speed Rail Institute and the HS2 rolling stock depot, so we look forward to seeing the plans connected with this deal.”
