News: Automotive group to take massive new Rotherham warehouse

Work has only just begun on a massive new warehouse in Rotherham but the speculative development already has a tenant.

Alliance Automotive Group UK (AAG UK) has partnered with Europa Capital and Panattoni, Europe’s leading logistics developer, to build their new distribution centre.

Panattoni secured planning permission for two facilities adjacent to junction 1 of the M18 at Hellaby, one of 630,000 sq ft, which will be one of the largest-ever speculative logistics buildings in the north of England, and a smaller 80,000 sq ft facility.

AAG has signed a 25-year lease for the facility.

AAG UK, acquired by the American Genuine Parts Company in 2017, supply light and commercial vehicle parts to over 36,000 independent garages, franchise networks and public services throughout the UK.

Steve Richardson, AAG’s Managing Director said: “We’re delighted to partner with Europa Capital and Panattoni to secure this new facility for our FPS business. We’ve experienced significant growth since acquiring FPS in 2016 and this investment not only allows us to consolidate our 3 existing facilities in Sheffield, but also forms part of our wider programme to strengthen our distribution infrastructure to ensure we are prepared for future growth.

"This will be a purpose built, state of the art facility, integrating best in class logistics operations with advanced technologies to put us at the forefront of aftermarket distribution. As we move forward customers can expect an even wider product offering alongside market leading service and support. It’s an exciting next step in our journey and we expect the new facility to be operational in the first quarter of 2025”.

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Dan Burn, Head of Development for the North West and Yorkshire at Panattoni, said: “This major pre-let to AAG endorses our continuing commitment to a significant speculative development programme across the UK and our continued confidence in the logistics sector. We look forward to working with AAG over the coming months as we bring significant investment and employment opportunities to Rotherham”.

Rachel Hanke, Managing Director and Value Add Fund Manager at Europa Capital, commented: “Despite current headwinds, securing a pre-let with a tenant such as AAG at an early stage of construction is a testament to the resolve of the asset management team and strength of the fundamentals in the sector, especially for high-quality assets such as the Rotherham logistics park. We continue to experience a good level of occupier interest in the remaining unit and are focused on letting up this space.”

Letting agents are M1 Agency, Legat Owen and Knight Frank.
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Matt Pochin, Director at Legal Owen, said: "We were always extremely confident in the sites’ location during the acquisition process, so to have secured an effective pre-let of this scale underpins our advice and Panattoni’s commitments to Rotherham and Junction 1 M18."
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AAG UK website Panattoni website

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News: Work starts at massive new Rotherham warehouse

Work is underway on a huge distribution centre development alongside the M18 motorway in Rotherham after a lead contractor was appointed.

Two facilities are being built adjacent to junction 1 of the M18 at Hellaby, one of 630,000 sq ft, which will be one of the largest-ever speculative logistics buildings in the north of England, and a smaller 80,000 sq ft facility.

Panattoni, the largest logistics real estate developer in the UK and Europe, has appointed Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd as main contractor.

Over the next few weeks the contractor will be starting cut and fill operation and forming the main entrance to the site to make sure it’s fully operational.

The units incorporate two-storey office blocks/first floor offices, level access doors/dock loading doors. In addition, the works will include access roads, service yards, car parking and hard/soft landscaping and associated incoming services.

Both units will benefit from Panattoni’s Grade-A standard specification. Prioritising quality, durability and efficient operations, every Panattoni build is designed to do more with less for longer, as demonstrated by targeting a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’ and EPC rating of ‘A’.

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To facilitate the on-site works Buckingham will also deliver Section 278 highway works. The existing Bawtry Road (A631) and Cumwell Lane will be improved to provide safe access to and egress from the new industrial development. The finished road / junction will be designed and constructed in line with Local Authority / Highway standards.

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Dan Burn, Head of Development; North West & Yorkshire at Panattoni, said: "We are glad to be on-site starting construction of such significant scale in the North of England. The development has already seen substantial interest from occupiers, especially with the lack of supply of Grade-A space in the region. Panattoni’s speculative development programme keeps providing these opportunities that are missing in the market.”

Letting agents are M1 Agency, Legat Owen and Knight Frank and completion is expected in Q3 2023.

Panattoni website
Buckingham Group website

Images: Panattoni

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News: Why are big warehouses being built in Rotherham?

Developers are answering the call for more much needed warehouse space in the Sheffield region as evidenced by large scale new developments in Rotherham.

The KKR-backed specialist asset manager, Mirastar, recently agreed to finance the development of Catalyst, through M1 Agency. The 18-acre site sits on Sheffield Business Park, incorporating 285,000 sq ft across five units with a value of £60m.

Outline plans were approved in 2019 to enable the successful Sheffield Business Park to expand into Rotherham. The fourth phase is being built on a 17.9-acre site that was previously kept in the greenbelt when Sheffield City Airport was in operation.

Premcor, a private UK based property development company, joined with Peveril Securities, a wholly owned investment and development division of Bowmer and Kirkland, to work together on their first ever South Yorkshire site.

Barnfield Construction is making swift progress alongside the Parkway.

At Hellaby, work is underway on a huge distribution centre development alongside the M18 motorway.

Panattoni, the largest industrial real estate developer in Europe, bought the site and is bringing forward a unit of 630,000 sq ft, which will be one of the largest-ever speculative logistics buildings in the north of England, and a smaller 80,000 sq ft facility. Completion is expected in July 2023.

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Henry Watson, lead agent at M1 Agency in the Yorkshire and The North East said: “The market dynamic in Sheffield and surrounding area demonstrates a chronic imbalance between an extreme amount of demand and a huge lack of supply.

“The unprecedented growth demand for last mile solutions shown in Sheffield and the wider South Yorkshire conurbations has been triggered by the rise of the convenience economy driven by mobile technology.

“Proximity to customers is becoming ever important as goods need to be moved quicker and more often, intensifying the demand for space in last-mile locations.”

But it is not just last mile warehousing required in the region. Watson said: “Demand has continued to outweigh supply within the big box market too. The dynamic shift in consumer habits with increased multi-channel retail has created further extra-large scale requirements because of the nature of e-fulfilment.

“While e-commerce is one of the primary drivers of the ongoing large-scale warehousing demand, we are also seeing third-party logistics providers transitioning to larger multi-user facilities and consolidating their estates.

“With slimming margins on retail sales, occupiers have been looking at their logistics and supply chain management to reduce costs and increase profitability."

A latest study by agents, Knight Frank for the region confirms that it is a lack of supply and continued occupier demand that has driven the appetite for speculative development.

At the end of Q2 2022, there was 1.83 million sq ft of space immediately available. However, 73% was under offer with further availbale space in advance discussions.

Rebecca Schofield, partner and head of the Yorkshire Industrial team at Knight Frank in Sheffield, said: "Despite the caution that has entered the investment market, occupier demand and enquiries remain robust and we expect levels of interest to continue in respect of the further speculative development planned, including Panattoni Park in Rotherham, Barnsley 340, Bessemer Park Sheffield, Horizon 29 at Chesterfield and Unity Doncaster.”

M1 Agency website
Knight Frank website

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News: Development to start at massive new Rotherham warehouse

Work is due to start this month on a huge distribution centre development alongside the M18 motorway in Rotherham.

Rotherham Council recently approved a reserved matters planning application for two facilities adjacent to junction 1 of the M18, one of 630,000 sq ft, which will be one of the largest-ever speculative logistics buildings in the north of England, and a smaller 80,000 sq ft facility.

Outline plans were approved for "Interchange Park" on former greenbelt land at Hellaby in 2020 and applicants said that it could be home to over 1,000 jobs. Since then, Panattoni, the largest industrial real estate developer in Europe, has bought the Cumwell Lane site, gained approval for changes to the plans and reserved matters.

Panattoni said that it will commence speculative development of the two units in August, with completion expected in July 2023. They will be built to a BREEAM sustainability rating of ‘Very Good’ and an EPC rating of ‘A’.

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Dan Burn, Development Director at Panattoni, said: “This nationally significant development reaffirms our commitment to a significant speculative development programme in the UK this year and we are very pleased to now be able to progress with the delivery of the scheme.

“We would like to thank Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council for the proactive way in which they have helped to facilitate the development and we look forward to working with them over the coming months as construction progresses.”

Letting agents for the 40-acre Panattoni Park are M1 Agency, Legat Owen and Knight Frank. Lichfields advised Panattoni on the planning application.

Over 100 objections were recieved regarding the latest plans including from Bramley Parish Council. The application was a reserved matters application to assess the matters reserved in the determination of the outline application. It focused on appearance and landscaping and meant that most of the reasons for objection had already been assessed in the original outline application.

Panattoni website

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News: Further details of massive Rotherham warehouse development

Further fine details for a huge distribution centre development alongside the M18 motorway in Rotherham have been submitted.

Outline plans were approved for "Interchange Park" on former greenbelt land at Hellaby in 2020 and applicants said that it could be home to over 1,000 jobs. Since then, Panattoni, the largest industrial real estate developer in Europe, has bought the Cumwell Lane site and gained approval for changes to the plans.

A reserved matters planning application was approved last year for a 715,000 sq ft speculative development, now-called Panattoni Park Rotherham, consisting of the 630,000 sq ft facility (a maximum of 21 metres high) and a smaller 85,000 sq ft facility (15 metres).

Following continued dialogue with planners at Rotherham Council, the latest application focuses on appearance and landscaping.

A new Noise Assessment and Visual Impact Assessment have been submitted.

To improve screening, the developers have reviewed levels across the site and are proposing to reduce overall site levels by 0.74 metres in the vicinity of the largest unit. The layout of the smaller unit has been revised to "facilitate a deeper landscaping belt" and higher bunds of 2 - 3 metres are designed to improve the level of screening from Bateman Road and Cumwell Lane.

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An extended acoustic fence is not deemed neccessary in planning terms but developers have offered to extend the fence to offer additional mitigation to nearby residents. Developers also say that the proposed landscaping scheme will effectively screen the HGV parking and service yard.

The proposed steel frame buildings are set to have metal cladding in a palette of silver/metallic/grey, with feature entrances and glazing to the office elements. New details include removing the darker bands to reflect a lighter palette.

As already approved in previous plans, vehicular access to the new units is to be via Cumwell Lane which is off the A631. A dedicated access road will be provided to both units from Cumwell Lane for HGVs.

The detailed scheme includes a total of 490 car parking spaces, of which 99 will provide for electric charging and 25 will be provided as accessible spaces. An additional 189 spaces for HGV parking is also proposed. Parking for 180 bicycles will be provided across the site.

Letting agents are M1 Agency, Legat Owen and Knight Frank.

Panatonni website

Images: Panatonni / Vista 3d

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