HBD has acquired a prominent site in Welwyn Garden City for £6.2m; the latest in a series of acquisitions for the developer as it continues to expand its £1.4bn pipeline.
HBD will complete the regeneration of the 3-acre brownfield site – formerly home to a series of gas holders serving the local area – creating a new 71,000 sq. ft. industrial/warehouse development. The £20m scheme will provide much-needed industrial space across three separate units, from 13,000 sq. ft. to 39,000 sq. ft.
The deal is one of several recently announced by HBD, including the acquisition of a prominent 2.6-acre site in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter – now tipped for a mixed use residential scheme – a £5.8m industrial estate in central Manchester, and Allied Business Centre in Lancashire, purchased for £4.75m.
The team is underway with several large-scale schemes across the South East, including Butterfield Business Park in Luton, a 27-acre project in Enfield, and Airport Business Park Southend. The Welwyn scheme will be HBD’s third speculative project in the region in the last twelve months.
Vivienne Clements, Executive Director at HBD, said: “This is an excellent development opportunity for HBD – located in the heart of Welwyn’s established industrial estate and within close-proximity to the A1, it will help to meet established demand for high-quality, well-located industrial space.”
Demand for new industrial space has remained high across London and the South East, further exacerbated by the pandemic and the boom in ecommerce.
Simon Quine, Development Surveyor at HBD, said: “We’ll be bringing the three units forward on a speculative basis given the strength in demand for new industrial stock. We hope to submit planning in September with a view to starting on site in Q2 2022.
“The development will not only return a brownfield site back to positive use, but will provide SMEs with the space to grow, while creating valuable new jobs.”
HBD has offices in London, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Glasgow. The developer is working with a pipeline of £1.4bn across key target sectors; industrial and logistics and urban regeneration.
HBD was advised by Adroit Real Estate.