JLL, B8 win Port Bridgewater instruction

Peel Ports Group has appointed Jones Lang LaSalle and B8 Real Estate to masterplan and market the former Bridgewater paper mill site at Ellesmere Port for port-centric logistics.

The 75-acre site has consent for 1m sq ft of logistics space on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal. The development will transform the brownfield site into a multimodal port hub.

An existing operating berth on the Ship Canal connects the site directly to the Port of Liverpool via Peel Ports' container shuttle service, and the rail network is easily accessed with an on-site branch line. Direct access to the UK's motorway network comes by way of junction 7 of the M53 which is within 750 metres of the site gate.

Peel Ports owns and operates the Port of Liverpool and the Manchester Ship Canal. The Manchester Ship Canal container feeder service will move in the region of 20,000 containers across a distance of 40 miles between the ports of Liverpool and Manchester in the coming year.

Tom Davis, partner at B8 Real Estate, said: "Rarely does a site of such scale and flexibility come to the market and we are delighted to be working with Peel Ports to deliver their vision of transforming UK logistics. The former Bridgewater paper mill site responds to the need for large building footprints and is linked back to the Port of Liverpool and Liverpool2 – the post-Panamax deep water terminal currently under construction in the River Mersey. The Liverpool2 terminal will double container capacity at the port when it opens for business in 2015. With an existing planning consent for port use, the site can be developed quickly and is set to be a major force in UK logistics."

Richard Evans, industrial and logistics director at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: "The site has the potential to change the way that the UK's occupiers think about logistics. We have the ability to deliver a 75 acre site, with excellent road, rail and water access linked back to Liverpool2. UK logistics is changing and this site will be at the forefront of that change."

This development is a significant part of Peel Ports' wider development plans for the Port of Liverpool and Manchester Ship Canal, which include a number of multimodal port hub developments.

Andrew Martin, head of land and property at Peel Ports, said: "Following its acquisition in 2011 the site has been cleared and with the support of the local authority, Cheshire West & Cheshire Council, it has been granted consent for redevelopment for Port use. Unrivalled flexibility is provided through existing rail and water links, enhanced by direct access to the region's motorway network. The site provides the perfect platform for port centric development linked to the new Liverpool2 terminal."