Funding boost for £10m Winsford industrial
A scheme to deliver 125,000 sq ft of employment space across 13 industrial units at Artis Park has received a £5m loan from the Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership to spur its delivery.
The financing is the first loan the Cheshire & Warrington Development Fund has made since it appointed real estate consultancy CBRE’s investment advisory team, (part of CBRE Capital Advisors) to manage the fund in early 2020. This was a follow-on to the North West Evergreen Fund and was announced in March.
The £10m industrial scheme is being delivered by a joint venture between the development arm of Eric Wright Group, Maple Grove, and Kier Property Developments.
The 13 units are being constructed at Artis Park, part of the Winsford Industrial Estate in Cheshire, with the first phase having completed earlier this year and available to let, and the second phase expected to start next year.
The Cheshire and Warrington Development Fund and the LEP’s two established North West Evergreen funds, have helped to finance more than £500m of regional development since their inception, according to the LEP.
Philip Cox, chief executive of the Cheshire and Warrington LEP, said: “The development of Artis Park will make a valuable contribution towards the creation of space for employment opportunities and business growth. As part of the UK’s first Green Business Park, it is also aligned to our strategy of working to support clean and sustainable growth across the region.
“The investment also complements other investment by the LEP at Winsford Industrial Estate through the Local Growth Fund programme, where we have granted £3.8m towards an £11m project to provide infrastructure to open up further land for commercial use.”
Will Church, senior director of investment advisory at CBRE, added: “The North West Evergreen fund and the Cheshire & Warrington Development Fund have remained open for business during the pandemic, filling a vital funding gap.”
And Karen Hirst, managing director of Maple Grove Developments, said the funding would help facilitate the next phase of development at Artis Park and “enable us to provide high-quality space to attract more businesses to the area and support the expansion of others.”
Matt Pochin at Legat Owen and Jason Print at Gerald Eve are the joint letting agents for Artis Park.
