Agents appointed on speculative industrial scheme
March 2014
Naylors Chartered Surveyors have been instructed to let a new speculative industrial development in North Tyneside that marks a significant milestone in the improving health of the commercial property market in the area.
Elm Park, which is being developed by Hellens Group, will be the first speculative industrial development to be built in North Tyneside since 2006. The £2.6 m project will provide 17 units ranging from 1,500 sq ft up to 5,500 sq ft on a 2 acre site at West Chirton Industrial Estate.
Keith Stewart, director at Naylors commented: ‘We are very excited to be involved in letting the first industrial speculative scheme North of the Tyne since the credit crunch. There is a lack of new business space of this size and quality in North Tyneside and we anticipate there will be strong demand from local businesses, particularly within the manufacturing and offshore sectors. The site is an excellent location close to Silverlink Retail Park and Cobalt Office Park with good links to the A19 and Tyne Tunnels.’
Hellens Group, who are specialists in property development and brownfield regeneration, secured a £460,000 loan from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) North East Investment Fund to take the scheme forward. They also received a £1.1 m grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and invested their own money into the project.
Hellens purchased the land for development prior to the credit crunch but were unable to obtain funding which caused the project to be stalled for five years.
Hellens chief executive, Gavin Cordwell-Smith said: “Construction is now well underway at Elm Park with all the steelwork now in place. We are delighted to appoint Naylors as our agent for Elm Park as they have significant regional experience in the industrial sector. The development has already created interest and the units are due to be ready for occupation in May of this year. ’
The scheme is expected to support over 150 jobs during the construction phase with further job creation once the properties are occupied. GVA have been appointed joint agents alongside Naylors.