West Yorkshire-based online consumer goods retailer Buy It Direct has leased AEW and Panattoni’s speculatively built 523,404 sq ft warehouse at East Midlands Distribution Centre in Castle Donington close to East Midlands Airport.
Nick Glynne, CEO at Buy It Direct said: “Due to the exceptional demand for online goods, partly as a result of Covid, we urgently required a large warehouse to support our increased stockholding of kitchen appliances, bathrooms and furniture. We didn’t have the luxury of time for a design and build and so the new shed at EMDC was ideal.”
The new facility will provide 90,000 extra pallet spaces for Buy It Direct’s appliances, bathroom products and furniture.
The cross-docked warehouse benefits from 76 dock and eight level access doors, 50m yards, and 18m clear height.
EMDC 525 accommodates a rainwater harvesting system and the roof has been designed to allow for the future installation of PV panels. These could provide all the power needed for the electric vehicle charging points in the car park.
The development forms part of the Allianz Real Estate segregated account managed by AEW launched in February 2019, which focused on develop-to-core opportunities in prime locations within the UK logistics sector.
“Our growth forecasts means we will need another large site within four years but in the meantime we have extra capacity to offer a pick, pack and despatch service to third parties, ideally for oversized goods that can be stored in bulk on the floor or within VNA. In addition we will be creating 250 new jobs, engaging with Invest in Leicester, North West Leicestershire District Council who work with DWP and the Leicester Employment Hub to assist us our recruitment needs.”
Andy Preston, development manager at Panattoni, said: “This lease demonstrates the demand in the logistics market for quality space, along with reinforcing the strength of Panattoni’s speculative programme throughout the UK.
“Panattoni has recently started on site at Derby 515. At 514,193 sq ft this cross-docked warehouse is set to be one of the largest single-unit speculative developments under construction in the country, closely followed by the 512,850 sq ft development at Panattoni Wakefield 515.”
Savills, FHP and Gerald Eve advised AEW.
