Leyland sheds available in summer

Council-owned Lancashire County Developments has appointed agents to market industrial units being built to replace a 450,000 sq ft shed destroyed by fire in December 2011.

Construction works are well advanced, with the first units due to be completed by August. Three buildings are being constructed, providing 390,000 sq ft in total.

The particulars say two adjoining units, with 12m-high clear headroom, each of 166,000 sq ft can be combined to provide 332,000 sq ft in total, or can be subdivided from 80,000 sq ft.

The third unit, 6m clear headroom, will provide 50,000 sq ft and can be subdivided from 5,000 sq ft.

Planning permission has been obtained for a fourth unit of 60,000 sq ft currently available on a build-to-suit basis.

Lancashire Business Park is owned by Lancashire County Council's economic development company, Lancashire County Developments.

Lambert Smith Hampton and Jones Lang LaSalle have been instructed to market the scheme by Lancashire County Council.

Discussions are ongoing with two existing tenants about continuing their tenancies.

Andrew Aherne, industrial director of Lambert Smith Hampton, said: "There is a real shortage of available modern manufacturing and logistics buildings across virtually all size ranges in the key locations of the North West.

"Over 5m sq ft of new speculatively built big box logistics buildings, which were developed prior to the downturn, have now been taken up and there will shortly be no new buildings of 100,000 sq ft and above available in the North West as a whole."

David Brooks, director at Jones Lang LaSalle, added: "With the lack of funding for new speculative development remaining tight for the foreseeable future, we envisage that the problem being experienced with the shortage of supply buildings will become more acute. Lancashire Business Park is well serviced by the North West motorway network, lying within 1.5 miles of the intersection of the M6, M61 and M65 motorways."