Property investor LondonMetric Property has agreed a £30 million forward funding deal to build a 356,000 sq ft speculative warehouse at Omega Warrington (OWL)’s Omega South scheme in the North West.
LondonMetric chief executive Andrew Jones said: “Black Friday and Cyber Monday are timely reminders of the structural changes taking place in the retail sector as consumers continue to change the way they shop. The winning retailers this festive season – and forever more – will be those who can get products into consumers’ hands as quickly, reliably and efficiently as possible.
“This is strengthening the demand dynamics for well-located distribution space as the growth in retailers’ omni channel strategies continues to soak up constrained market supply. This increasing tension is leading to rental growth which supports our early move into retail logistics which is fast becoming the strongest sub-sector of the retail property market.”
The deal follows LondonMetric’s decision forward fund the Hut Group’s 690,000 sq ft warehouse on Omega South to the tune of £47.5m in 2014. The new speculative facility will be built on an 18.9-acre plot within Zone Seven at Omega South, which was given outline planning in 2014 for 2.1 million sq ft of logistics and distribution space. It is expected that a decision on the reserved matters planning application for this plot will be made by Warrington Borough Council over the next couple of months. Pending a positive decision, it is anticipated that construction on the LondonMetric warehouse would then commence in March 2016, with completion in December 2016.
Omega Warrington Ltd is a joint venture between Miller Developments and KUC Properties, in partnership with landowner the Homes and Communities Agency, and supported by Warrington Borough Council and the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership. Letting agents for the site are Bilfinger GVA and JLL.
