IM Properties has completed and fully let its Solihull Business Park scheme only 18 months after initially acquiring the site, the award winning developer has confirmed.
Marketing group Innerworkings is the latest company to take up space at the park, with the final 54,000 sq ft space let this week on a 10 year lease.
Innerworkings will join V Installations, which occupies a 30,000 sq ft manufacturing facility on Plot 3, and the John Lewis Partnership, which has snapped up the park’s largest unit. The 50,000 sq ft facility will act as the firm’s latest Customer Delivery Hub, playing a pivotal role in enhancing the partnership’s e-commerce business which is currently the subject of an extensive investment.
Development director Lewis Payne at IM Properties believes that the current demand for industrial properties in the West Midlands has been highly advantageous in the letting of the business park.
He says; “The letting and sale of all three of these units within 18 months of our acquisition of Solihull Business Park is a clear demonstration of rising demand within the industrial sector for high quality space delivered in an accessible prime location.
“The letting of this final unit marks the end of a very successful scheme for IM Properties, set in motion by the John Lewis Customer Delivery Hub – a first of its kind project for the company – which was a catalyst for the scheme and provided a great vote of confidence in the Park as a prime distribution location.
“The strength of market demand in this area set against the lack of supply has helped us to achieve strong rents on the scheme.”
The strength of the industrial sector remains a key source of economic growth within the West Midlands, where numerous firms are currently seeking to reshore their operations due to the overall stability of the UK economy.
Thanks to the area’s manufacturing heritage and the comparably wide pool of skilled talent, world leading firms including Jaguar Land Rover, Dyson and Manganese Bronze have all chosen to invest in expanding existing operations during the past year.
Yet despite this notable uptick in demand, speculative industrial developments still remain relatively rare in the West Midlands, causing rents to rise sharply at sites where space remains available for growing firms. Hopefully the success of IM Properties at Solihull Business Park will prove to be a catalyst which will trigger an increase in the number of developers willing to take a risk in the heart of the UK’s industrial powerhouse.
