Warehouse site along M65 corridor sold to a petrol station forecourt operator

The only big box warehouse site along the M65 corridor has been sold to a petrol station forecourt operator for their new HQ as the supply of logistics land in Lancashire continues to plunge.

The deal – which sees 90-acre Frontier Park, near Blackburn,  change hands – potentially takes a 900,000 sq ft warehouse site out of play. Lancashire’s supply of logisitics development land is already tight – and the move could tighten it further, say experts.

Euro Garages have acquired the site at Blackburn Road, Whitburke, from Praxis. The asking price was £10m.
The site has consent from Hyndburn Council for up to 900,000 sq ft of warehousing. It will now see a 60,000 sq ft Euro Garages HQ along with other uses, potentially eating into the warehouse space.

Andrew Aherne, of Aherne Property Consultants, who advised on the sale, said: “The new owners are masterplanning the site now, and the second phase may still include warehousing but the purchase is more for the roadside uses.”

“This was the only currently available logistics site on the M65 corridor able to accommodate big sheds. There will still be plots at the back for larger sheds, but perhaps not quite as much as before. Some of the new owners’ plans eat into the logistics land and may trigger other uses than nibble into it further.”