Tristan Capital fund snaps up Birkenhead industrial

With planning permission secured for a 495,000 sq ft big box unit, the 22-acre Ark Royal site proved an “attractive proposition” for the pan-European real estate investment manager.

EPISO 5, a fund managed by Tristan Capital Partners, has acquired the Birkenhead plot from Peel L&P. Now, Tristan Capital will work alongside Tungsten Properties to deliver Ark Royal, which was granted planning permission from Wirral Council in June.

Tungsten had been developing the project with Peel L&P. Now, the company will be Tristan Capital’s operating partner and development manager for Ark Royal.

Designed by HTC Architects, the future shed will contain 30,000 sq ft of offices and 465,400 sq ft of industrial space. The project also includes 131 spaces for HGVs, 421 for cars, 18 for motorcycles, and 30 for cycles.

Tristan Capital and Tungsten have announced their goal for the building to achieve a BREEAM rating of Excellent and for it to be net zero carbon in construction.

Ark Royal will sit off Campbelltown Road on land that formerly belonged to Cammell Laird shipyard. The industrial project’s agents are Colliers and Moriarty & Company.

Tristan Capital’s acquisition of Ark Royal is one of two major deals completed by the EPISO 5 fund. The other was to acquire a 360,000 sq ft industrial asset in Colchester.

Nicho Jenkins, managing director at Tristan Capital, explained the company’s rationale for the EPISO 5 purchases.

“The land price coupled with the underlying occupational dynamics and the opportunity to work with a best-in-class development partner makes developing these schemes an attractive proposition for the fund,” Jenkins said.

“We continue to see strong occupier demand for the highest quality logistics assets, with exceptional ESG credentials, across our portfolio,” he continued. “It follows that these projects reflect a continuation of our strategy to create value for our investors by developing such assets”.

Tungsten’s managing director, Jeff Penman, added: “Tristan Capital’s investment into building these two important industrial schemes show that we are responding to significant demand for such space in their respective ports to enable increased global commerce.

“Ark Royal will be one of the largest new build warehouses in the North West of England and address the dearth of 500,000 sq ft units in the region.”

Commercial advice was given to EPISO 5 by TT&G and Atlas Real Estate when it came to the deal. CMA was the legal adviser for EPISO 5, while Tungsten was advised by Forsters.

Want to learn more about Ark Royal? Search APP/22/00334 on Wirral Council’s planning portal.