One of Britain’s flagship property funds — which has broken its profit target for five years running — is responding to the growing demand for industrial space with two new Worcestershire warehouse developments.
Schroder UK Real Estate Fund (SREF) has received planning approval for two schemes, totalling 135,000 sq ft, at its 200-acre Hartlebury Trading Estate near Kidderminster. The fund acquired the site in 2013 and has taken the estate, 10 miles north of Junction 6 of the M5 motorway, to its highest occupancy rate in more than a decade.
As part of the new developments a major lease renegotiation has been completed with anchor tenant Forest Garden, which will see the timber product manufacturer move to new units in the northern section of the 1.87m square foot estate.
The new lease, which runs until 2025, will allow Forest Garden to consolidate all its production and offices facilities within 165,000 sq ft of adjacent buildings. It will also give the company access to a 105,000 sq ft yard for parking and commercial vehicles.
SREF has also secured planning permission for further works at the estate, which include the construction of a 30,000 sq ft unit, 58 car parking spaces, new bicycle facilities and six lorry parking spaces across three acres of the site. “This new unit will meet increased demand for operational space at Hartlebury, as well as providing greater accessibility for commercial vehicles,” it said in a statement.
Planning approval has already been granted for the construction of a range of new facilities within Hartlebury’s parkland setting that include a new marketing suite, café and retail outlet. Work on that project is expected to start within the next 12 months.
A former Ministry of Defence base until it was sold off in the late 1970s, Hartlebury Trading Estate is Worcestershire’s largest industrial complex and provides a range of buildings from small starter units to large distribution warehouses and manufacturing units. The estate has over 80 tenants leasing 182 units. There are currently two 40,000 sq ft buildings vacant.
Commenting on the estate’s latest round of expansion, Neil Meredith, Head of UK Business Space at Schroder Real Estate, said: “We are immensely grateful for the support we have received from Wychavon District Council in approving our plans for development works at Hartlebury and we are delighted that the authority has backed our vision to further invest in this vibrant and important estate.
“The works we are carrying out will allow us to accommodate the needs of our anchor tenant Forest Garden, as well as creating additional space and improving facilities at the estate.
“With the requirements of our 80 or so occupiers changing over the last few years, largely as a result of the pickup in the UK manufacturing sector, we have made it our priority to realign units and expand premises to provide flexible, high quality solutions,” he added.
The fund’s specialist advisor for all the estate’s projects is Collingwood Rigby. Halls Commercial and Harris Lamb are the joint leasing agents for SREF at Hartlebury.
Deloitte Real Estate acted for SREF on Forest Garden’s lease renegotiation, with Savills representing Forest Garden.
