Henry Boot is set to build industrial developments worth £1bn across the UK after forming a joint venture with an investor.
The group’s Henry Boot Development (HBD) has formed the partnership with Feldberg Capital which will be known as Origin, with the Yorkshire firm taking a 25% stake, amid moves to become a leader in the development of ‘mid box’ industrial and logistics schemes.
Origin will be seeded with an initial portfolio of three sites, in Walsall, Welwyn Garden City and Markham Vale – a development pipeline worth £100m. At the Spark scheme in Walsall, Henry Boot will create a 13-acre development site with a £53m gross development value )GDV), just off the M6. Spark has full planning consent for phase one, which comprises two units totalling 270,000 sqft.
In Welwyn Garden City the firm will work at Inter, a three-acre development site with a £27m GDV near Junction 4 of the A1(M). The site has detailed planning consent for a 71,000 sqft scheme.
At Markham Vale in Hertfordshire, the Ark scheme is a nine-acre development site with a £19m GDV and planning consent for four units totalling 107,000 sq ft. This marks the second phase of HBD’s 200-acre flagship scheme at Markham Vale.
The partnership will draw on both HBD’s development pipeline as well as acquire sites from third parties for further pre-let and speculative industrial and logistics development. For each project, development finance will be procured from an external lender. The aim, subject to market conditions, is to deliver around £1bn of high quality schemes across the UK over the next seven years.
Tim Roberts, CEO at Henry Boot, said: “The launch of this new industrial and logistics platform with Feldberg Capital is an important transaction for Henry Boot, allowing us to partner with a first-class international investor with the funds and ambition to invest alongside us into one of our key sectors. At the same time, it enables us to accelerate our own £1.3bn industrial and logistics pipeline and in turn recycle capital more efficiently. We now look forward to fulfilling our significant ambitions for Origin alongside the team at Feldberg.”
David Turner, managing partner at Feldberg Capital, said: “Having held back from the industrial and logistics market while assets looked overpriced, we believe now is a highly attractive entry point, with land values having come down over the last 24 months and entry yields being at more sustainable levels. The positive tailwinds within the sector remain, driven by structural trends including the continued growth of e-commerce and more firms serving the UK market looking to ‘onshore’ their production here in the face of a shifting regulatory and geopolitical backdrop.
“Our aim is for Origin to become a market leader in the mid-box space. We’re excited to be working together with HBD, using our tried-and-tested ESG framework to deliver the next generation of units for modern, environmentally responsible occupiers, and driving strong risk-adjusted returns for our investors in the process.”
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber
