Fiera Real Estate and Wrenbridge acquire 8.5 acre site from Countryside Properties to develop £50million logistics scheme
Fiera Real Estate (“FRE UK”) and Wrenbridge are pleased to announce the acquisition of a new 8.5 acre logistics site in Bishop’s Stortford to develop a new Grade A £50m logistics scheme.
The site, currently with an outline planning consent secured by master developer Countryside Properties was purchased for c.£10m on behalf of Fiera Real Estate Opportunity Fund V UK (“FREOF V UK”), the latest fund in Fiera Real Estate’s programmatic venture series with CBRE Global Investment Partners (“CBRE GIP”). The site is the 8th acquisition for the Fund and brings the total amount committed to over £100m.
FRE UK and Wrenbridge will develop a 207,383 sq.ft. scheme across seven units, in four buildings. The units will range in size from 12,357 sq.ft to 62,863 sq.ft. Specifications will include 10-12m clear internal heights, 50kN/sq m floor loading,10% office content, surface level and dock level loading doors and self-contained service yards for larger units.
The site is situated on an area of urban expansion land, to the south of the town which is being redeveloped for 750 new homes, new schools, local centre, and employment space. It benefits from excellent transport links to the Bishop’s Stortford ring road, M11 and wider road network.
Sustainability and environmental considerations have been at the forefront of the design of the new development which will be targeting BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and EPC ‘A’ rating. A range of sustainable features are proposed within the design of the units including photovoltaic panels and energy-efficient lighting, heating and cooling to be installed to encourage reduced energy consumption above Part L Regulations. EV Charging points and cycle parking are also included in the scheme.
The site has been acquired with outline planning consent secured for employment use within the B1(c), B2 and B8 use classes. It is allocated in the adopted Local Plan as part of a wider urban extension to Bishop’s Stortford for approximately 750 homes and several other uses including 4 to 5 hectares of employment land. The scheme itself is expected to create 350-450 jobs on site.
James Feltham, Director of Wrenbridge commented “We have been working on bringing this site forward for a number of months and we are excited to kickstart the project. There is a dearth of supply in the M11 corridor and we expect this Grade A scheme to attract existing Bishop’s Stortford businesses as well as occupiers coming from London, Harlow, Cambridge and the wider area.”
Chris Button, Fund Manager of Fiera Real Estate, commented “We are really pleased to have secured another key acquisition for FREOF V in partnership with Wrenbridge. Demand for industrial space has remained high during the pandemic, underpinned by robust occupational market fundamentals. We have significant funding for more speculative industrial and logistics developments in major urban locations.”