Prologis says Trafford Park purchase just the start
The industrial specialist has acquired an 8.66-acre development site off Barton Dock Road, planning to deliver a 200,000 sq ft facility and declaring “many more” will follow in the region.
Prologis – which has in recent days seen its latest bid to take over UK industrial firm SEGRO for £12bn-plus rebuffed – plans to regenerate the acquired site into an all-electric building aiming for BREEAM Outstanding and EPC A+ ratings, subject to planning and site preparation.
B8RE represented Prologis on the deal, with Cushman & Wakefield working for the vendor, which Place understands to be the site’s long-term occupier, roofing company BMI.
Paul Weston, regional head of Prologis UK, said: “The North West is one of the UK’s most important logistics markets, and Trafford Park gives us an excellent foothold in a region that has been identified as a strategic priority.
“This acquisition builds on our long-term commitment to the UK and demonstrates how foreign direct investment can fuel long term economic growth.”
Expanding on the point in a Linkedin post, Weston described the deal as “a particularly proud moment for me, having been born in Manchester and growing up in the North West, adding that this “first flag in the ground” will be the start of “many more”.
Prologis said it is forward-planning considerable new investment across the North West through new development, regeneration and acquisition in order to develop up to 5m sq ft of prime logistics space, helping businesses start, scale and stay in the region.
The US-headquartered firm has invested £5.6bn in the UK over the past decade, with £5.5bn more planned moving forward.
Prologis is a genuine heavyweight in global logistics, and has built up a portfolio of prime industrial assets across the Midlands and south-east England markets. The group has not ventured into the North West for some time, but does have a historic footprint in the region, pre-dating the sale of a massive Prologis portfolio for £473m to Blackstone-backed Logicor in 2020.
Going back a decade, the developer has let large units in locations such as Crewe and Middlewich to occupiers including AO, It also disposed of a strategic 270 acres at Parkide, Sr Helens to Langtree in 2014, while a project to bring Amazon to 3MG in Halton became a legal tussle, going to judicial review.
