Barwood Developments and the North Yorkshire-based Potter Logistics have joined forces to develop a 16-acre logistics hub at Knowsley Industrial Park.
The joint venture Draco project — situated on North Perimeter Road and with immediate access to Potter’s neighbouring rail freight terminal — will have the capacity for a total of 275,000 sq ft of distribution and manufacturing build-to-suit units ranging from 25,000 to 150,000sq ft.
“In addition to being within one of the North West’s most successful industrial parks, the benefits associated with Potter’s rail freight terminal will have significant appeal to occupiers,” said Andrew Dickman, of Barwood.”
In a market where there is now a serious lack of supply of warehouse and manufacturing stock certainty will be key, Dickman felt the scheme’s “ability to deliver these units on an already allocated site will be well received by occupiers”.
Knowsley Industrial Park, nine miles north of Liverpool, is an established industrial estate with existing occupiers including the courier service Hermes, the outsourcing company Capita, and traditional and online retailers Matalan and QVC.
Matthew Lamb is managing director of Potter Logistics, the warehouse, distribution and rail freight terminal specialist operator. “This is a well-timed and exciting development for the region,” he commented. “It represents a significant opportunity to springboard the redevelopment of the Knowsley Industrial Park creating capacity for the businesses to expand as the economy returns to growth.”
The Draco partnership has contracted industrial agency teams at CBRE, B8 Real Estate and Fox Lloyd Jones to market the enterprise.
Barwood is also currently in a second joint venture development agreement with Legal & General property at M6 EPIC, a 34-acre industrial site in South Lancashire which it acquired in 2013.
That partnership is awaiting planning consent for two single, cross-docked warehouse units — of 513,000sq ft and 124,000sq ft — available on a design and build basis at South Lancashire Industrial Estate, near Wigan. As the project’s name suggests it has close access to the M6 motorway.
