Amazon hovers over M6Major
The online retail giant is understood to be close to agreeing a deal on a 360,000 sq ft unit at Bericote’s M6Major.com development in Haydock.
Bericote was given outline consent in early 2017 to develop up to 1.4m sq ft in two units at the 91-acre site, which was formerly known as Florida Farm and lies opposite the existing Haydock industrial estate at junction 23 of the M6. However, it has in the last month submitted reserved matters applications to St Helens Council for two units totaling just under 900,000 sq ft.
Unit 1’s total size will be 361,000 sq ft, of which 328,000 sq ft will be warehouse space, plus a 27,000 sq ft office and two hub offices totalling 5,000 sq ft. It will be at the centre of the development plot, with 111 docking spaces, 211 HGV parking spaces and 437 car spaces.
The second unit will be a 476,000 sq ft warehouse, with 37,500 sq ft of offices and two hub offices totalling 5,000 sq ft each, giving a total of 523,500 sq ft. The development as a whole will require new access onto the A580 ,which is currently under construction.
The planning statement filed by planning adviser Lichfields covering Unit 1’s reserved matters application suggested that a pre-let deal is in place: “The proposals are to enable the delivery of a facility for a specific end user occupier, which will deliver significant investment and job creation within St Helens.”
One North West industrial agent told Place North West: “From what we’ve seen, this mirrors the way Amazon are procuring buildings across the country now – large sites with 360 degree access.”
The statement accompanying the Unit 2 application was comparatively generic, stating: “The proposed Unit 2 is a speculative unit which has been designed to suit large, blue chip domestic or international logistics operators. The building will be marketed once the reserved matters are approved and it is expected that the building will be occupied shortly after completion.” Avison Young is instructed as sole agent on the scheme.
Bericote’s previous work in the region includes site search, selection and development on behalf of ASDA for the grocer’s 410,000 sq ft base at Omega, Warrington in 2014.
Bericote and Amazon both declined to comment.
Good news for the Liverpool CR if this comes off.
By LCR Gal
Not sure it’s good news for anyone. An ever diminishing number of people needed to run facilities like this, and their business is in dwarfing those that can’t compete on price (due to scale, goods not being globalised, and having more people employed in the chain) It’s a race to the bottom, with money removed from one country’s economy and placed into a small number of hands in another one.
If money doesn’t churn, our way of existing is broken. Our economies would be better off in the long term trying to price things like this out, not begging for them to come and plant their jobs for the short term.
By Mike
loving the short term jobs and race to a bottom! yay
By worker
So now erecting smaller units than envisaged on this site – a cautionary tale of building on flat green fields in the green belt that is in part on a flood plane. Also, in an area where roads are problematical and challenging not seeing this as fitting with Amazon’s philosophy of 360 degree access – obviously not tried to negotiate the A580, A58, A49 and J23 M6 recently. I am sure Amazon or whoever will do their homework and pay particular attention to Race Days at Haydock Park etc – when nothing moves because of gridlocked roads – that will bode well for time critical deliveries. Not much in the way of work either state of the art automation so a few highly skilled jobs, with the remainder lacking in opportunity and progression. Just what everyone wants.
By Dori