St Paul’s Developments has been chosen to deliver a logistics and warehousing hub on a 44-acre “oven ready” site in South Yorkshire.
Named as development partner by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the Rotherham-based company is expected to start work on the 750,000 sq ft 31 East project within a few months. Included in the site’s existing outline planning consent is permission for a single stand-alone building of 450,000 sq ft.
Fully serviced and with infrastructure in place, 31 East is development-ready and has been pushed through by the HCA to help alleviate the shortage of available industrial and distribution stock in the county.
Situated on Todwick Road at Dinnington — and adjacent to the existing 45-acre Dinnington Business Park — Rotherham Borough Council recently completed improvements to access roads to Junction 31 of the M1 motorway in preparation for the 31 East scheme. The site is also one of nine strategic locations on the local enterprise partnership’s “economic growth corridor” that have been awarded the coveted EZ status, allowing 31 East to offer would be occupants significant tax benefits.
St Paul’s, which has been involved in the regeneration of several disused Yorkshire coalfield sites, believes the scheme could attract some of the biggest corporate names and generate as many as 750 jobs when completed in the early 2020s.
“St Paul’s has a long and successful history of developing in Rotherham and also working with the HCA,” commented the company’s managing director, David Newton. “With industrial and big-hut stock in severely short supply across South Yorkshire, and a limited number of available sites able to accommodate occupiers seeking units in excess of 300,000 sq ft, 31 East is coming to the market at the best possible time.”
Simon Herring, from the HCA, added: “St Paul’s Developments has a strong track record for the delivery of large-scale regeneration projects across the region and we are looking forward to working in partnership to bring this exciting scheme to life. The site’s access, capabilities and EZ benefits make it one of South Yorkshire’s most exciting industrial opportunities.”
His organisation has already appointed joint agents CBRE and Commercial Property Partners to market the site. “The well-documented shortage of supply within South Yorkshire is contrasted by increasingly strong demand as the market gains momentum and activity levels gather pace, particularly among industries such as manufacturing,” said Dave Cato, associate director of CBRE’s industrial agency.
“We anticipate very strong demand for this site and are looking forward to opening discussions with potential occupiers.”
