March 5, 2021
Fiera Real Estate (“FRE UK”) and Wrenbridge are pleased to announce the purchase of a new site in Burnham Road, north east of Dartford Town Centre to develop a 40,000 sq.ft logistics scheme with a GDV of c.£12m.
The new scheme will comprise of two warehouse units of 14,338 and 25,759 sq.ft and the proposed layout will provide 40 car parking spaces.
The site was purchased 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 7th acquisition for the Fund and brings the total amount committed to c.£100m.
FREOF V UK is targeting £250m of value add and opportunistic transactions and FRE UK are actively seeking similar opportunities in the £5-£25m range.
Sustainability and environmental considerations have been at the forefront of the design of the new development. The BREEAM Excellent and EPC A scheme will include electric charging points, PVs and rooflights for the warehouse space. Heating and cooling will be installed to encourage reduced energy consumption above Part L regulations and where possible the development will use low emitting or low embedded carbon materials.
Dartford is located to the South East of London, adjacent to the M25 and is an excellent location for urban logistics and distribution operations with occupiers including Sainsbury’s, DHL and Amazon choosing to locate to the area.
Demand for distribution warehouses is very strong across the UK and has remained resilient throughout the pandemic, particularly in the South East region. This has been driven by the soaring performance of online retail, most notably Amazon.
The market resilience has resulted in positive rental growth, fuelled by the combination of a demand/supply imbalance and the requirement to be located close to the customer. Dartford is well placed to serve the Greater London area and the new scheme will help fill the gap in the lack of existing Grade A supply.
FRE UK and Wrenbridge intend to submit a planning application in April for the demolition of the existing car showroom building and the construction of two new units which will be ready for occupation in Q2 2022.
Jamie Garrett, Director of Wrenbridge commented “We are really pleased to be underway on another scheme with Fiera and look forward to working with the local authority again to bring this scheme forward. We will be delivering high quality industrial and logistics space that will make a strong contribution to the local economy and jobs on this brownfield site.”
Chris Button, Fund Manager of Fiera Real Estate, commented “Investment demand for logistics assets has been resilient throughout Covid-19, underpinned by robust occupational market fundamentals and we are delighted to have secured another acquisition in this prime location with Wrenbridge. We have significant funding for more speculative industrial and logistics developments in major urban locations.”