Tungsten wins approval for Warrington shed
Construction of Super W, a 244,000 sq ft industrial unit on the site of the former Travis Perkins distribution hub on Appleton Thorn Trading Estate, is to begin next month and complete in Q3.
Hinkley-based Tungsten Properties bought the 11-acre site close to Junction 10 of the M56, for £7.5m last year.
The firm then submitted proposals to demolish the existing 110,000 sq ft unit and redevelop the site, citing a shortage of industrial space in the North West.
In addition to the industrial unit, office space, 18 dock-levellers and a 229-space car park also feature in the plans.
Demolition of the Travis Perkins facility began in November and construction of Super W is to begin in March following Warrington Council’s approval of the plans.
The site was marketed for sale in November 2019 after Travis Perkins announced it would close the facility to “simplify” operations, six years after it signed a deal for 700,000 sq ft at nearby Omega.
Ian Dunckley, development director at Tungsten, said: “Super W is our first development and investment in the North West. It is part of our UK-wide 2.37m sq ft development pipeline to provide industrial and warehouse space to help create jobs and support the future economy.”
Colliers International and Moriarty & Co are the letting agents for Super W.
Nathan Khanverdi, surveyor at Colliers, said: “Like many regions across the UK, in the last 12 months, the North West has experienced accelerated demand for large distribution space with take-up reaching 4.9m sq ft, 90% ahead of the previous year.
“This is due to occupiers scrambling to secure distribution space in a supply-starved market. As a result, there is an urgent requirement for speculative development in the region and so we expect to see strong interest from the occupier market for this prime space.”
Early-stage talks with a pair of interested prospective tenants are ongoing, the developer said.
Pegasus Group is the planning consultant and HTC Architects designed the scheme.