Barings has agreed to forward fund a €47m (£42.5m) logistics warehouse development with Panattoni in Bolton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, on behalf of a core investment strategy. The project is being delivered on Wingates Industrial Estate, an established logistics and light industrial location, and once completed will comprise c. 358,500ft² of new Grade A space across two units. The first unit of 77,800ft² has already been pre-let to the delivery company, Hermes Parcelnet, on a 15-year lease and will be used as a parcel depot. The second and larger property offers 280,700ft² and will be developed speculatively. The entire project is expected to achieve BREEAM “Very Good” certification.
Located in a prominent distribution location one mile from J6 of the M61 motorway, seven miles from the M60/M62 motorway and just 22 miles from Manchester Airport, the development is well-positioned to serve the Greater Manchester and the wider North West regions, as well as Yorkshire and the Midlands. The immediate area has already attracted a number of notable occupiers including Amazon, Whistl (formerly TNT) and Aldi.
Darren Hutchinson, Managing Director, Head of UK Real Estate Transactions at Barings, commented: “The UK is one of Europe’s most developed online retail markets and the last few months of lockdown have highlighted the resilience and importance of logistics real estate. Demand looks set to continue growing as a result of COVID-19 which has expedited the shift to online. The pre-letting of one unit to Hermes has de-risked an element of the project and with a strong degree of occupier interest in the second unit already, we believe this development is well placed to capture the demand for Grade A stock in prime locations in the north-west of England.”
Gunther Deutsch, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Transactions – Europe at Barings, added: This transaction is our sixth logistic acquisition this year across Europe and brings our investment volume in the logistics sector up to €300m. With another seven transactions under exclusivity, we expect another strong year for Barings Europe, matching our 2019 logistics acquisition volume of €600m. Our logistics appetite for 2021 is still very strong, and we continue to target acquisitions in the Nordics; the Netherlands; Germany; the UK; Italy; France; and Iberia, with an investment target of €950m.”
Matthew Byrom, Managing Director of Panattoni UK, remarked: “We are delighted to extend further our Pan-European relationship with Barings and continue to be impressed with the quality of the UK Barings team and their ability to execute projects efficiently”.
