Department store retailer Debenhams has taken Evander Properties’ 667,000 sq ft warehouse at Sherburn Distribution Park in North Yorkshire.
It has taken the mega-shed with 12,452 sq ft of accompanying office space on a 27-year lease at an initial rent believed to be less than £3.95 per sq ft. The property boasts 15m eaves, 58 dock and two level access doors, as well as a 52m deep yard.
Debenhams will start work on the warehouse fittings immediately and it is expected to be operational from June 2011. DHL will run the contract.
Toby Vernon of CB Richard Ellis, which represented Evander Properties jointly with DTZ and Moriarty & Co said: “This significant letting signals positive news for the Yorkshire industrial property market and the regional economy. This is the third plus 400,000 sq ft letting in the region this year, all of which have been to large retailers.”
He said Yorkshire had demonstrated its capacity to accommodate major retailers and that they have interest in the remaining 660,000 sq ft of the 1.4 million sq ft park.
Research conducted by DTZ showed that take-up of industrial real estate in the Yorkshire and Humberside region has bucked the national trend by increasing by 27 per cent in the third quarter of 2010, while overall industrial take-up across the rest of the UK fell in Q3. The research also showed that the Yorkshire region as a whole has the highest ratio of available prime space in the UK.
Mike Baugh of DTZ said: “The Yorkshire market continues to outperform the rest of the UK in terms of take-up. This is a reflection of the quality of the communication network in the region, the availability of large, grade A space and limited availability of the same across the rest of the UK, which is making it an attractive prospect for large companies like Debenhams.”
