26th Nov 2018 08:33
LONDON (Alliance News) - FTSE 250-listed Tritax Big Box REIT PLC on Monday said it has secured planning permission for the development of a logistics facility in Dartford, southeast London, from Dartford Borough Council.
The site is located at a former power station decommissioned in 2015 within the M25 motorway around London and extends to about 124.0 acres and was first acquired in July 2017 for GBP65 million.
The former power station will be demolished in three phases, of which Phase One and Two, totalling 54 acres, has already been completed on time and on budget.
Phase Three, which includes the main station and its infrastructure is on track to be completed for early 2020.
Within the development land, the 450,240 square feet facility will be built with a clear internal height of 21 metres, on 28.6 acres of the land. It will be cross-docked, meaning goods will be transferred directly to a retailer with little or no storage in between.
A recent marketing campaign has attracted a "healthy" level of enquiries and obtaining phase one planning consent is expected to increase interest further. Tritax is currently targeting a yield on cost on phase one development of 6.5%.
Tritax said the site is capable of supporting the potential development of about 1.7 million square feet of logistics distribution buildings, including several Big Box logistics facilities of over 400,000 square feet, together with some smaller urban logistics facilities.
The real estate investment trust is now in discussions with Dartford Borough Council for a separate application for outline planning consent on the balance of the site.
"The development team look forward to continuing to build on the positive working relationship established with Dartford Borough Council to progress discussions to secure planning consent for the development of the balance of this site. We anticipate being able to provide additional new high-quality investments on a pre-let basis to the company's portfolio over the coming years at an attractive yield on cost," said partner Colin Godfrey.
Shares in Tritax Big Box REIT were up 0.8% at 140.24 pence on Monday.
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