The developer is preparing to start work on warehouse space across seven units and four sites in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, following the grant of planning permission. It is the largest programme of speculative warehousing development currently underway in the UK.
The development programme has been launched to satisfy the significant demand in an increasingly supply-constrained logistics real estate market in the UK. It follows GLP’s completion of 1.25 million sq ft of speculative development at Magna Park South, Lutterworth in December 2020.
Demand for larger warehouses has significantly expanded in recent years, particularly among e-commerce occupiers in need of more storage space. According to Savills, online sales in December 2020 were 51% higher year-on-year, with this growth trajectory expected to continue. As a result, warehouse take-up was 50.1 million sq ft in 2020 – by far the strongest year on record.
The plan envisages three distribution units of 126,000 sq ft ,161,000 sq ft and 249,000 sq ft at G-Park Bedford Wixams, a further 133,000 SQ FT unit at G-Park Northampton, and two units of 117,000 sq ft and 140,000 sq ft at its new G-Park Milton Keynes development. They will also add 88,000 sq ft at Magna Park Milton Keynes
The developments are expected to be available for occupation by Summer 2021.
