£1.5 million refurbishment to free up 96,000 sq ft industrial unit in South Wales

A £1.5 million refurbishment which is to go ahead at the South Wales Distribution Centre (SWDC) at Kenfig Industrial Estate between Cardiff and Swansea is set to ease the growing shortage of available industrial stock in south Wales.

The 96,000 sq ft Zone 3 industrial unit is being completely refurbished by new owners M7 Real Estate, which acquired the 500,000 sq ft SWDC at the start of this year. The work is set to be completed by early 2019.

Dan Brooks-Dowsett of Trident, which is project managing the refurbishment works, said: “The extensive works will include new roof coverings and roof lights, recladding the exterior elevations, removing redundant internal offices, the installation of low-energy lighting systems and improved vehicle loading bays with new concrete aprons. The result will be a large unit of high-quality industrial accommodation.”

M7 asset manager George Gaynor said: “M7 aims to transform Kenfig into one of south Wales’ premier logistics locations.”

The South West Distribution Centre site is being marketed by commercial property agent Knight Frank. Neil Francis, partner at Knight Frank in Cardiff, said: “Recent investment has attracted a range of excellent tenants including Amazon, Bunzl Lockhart and Bunzl Greenhams, and we were able to let more than 150,000 sq ft at the Centre within a 12 month period – a demonstration of how attractive these modern quality premises within sight of the M4 motorway are to industrial and logistics companies.”

He added: “As well as the Zone 3 unit which will be coming to the market, the opportunity still exists for a bespoke new-build development of up to 35,000 sq ft on available land. Alternatively, we will lease this area for open storage or trailer parking.”

SWDC is strategically located on Kenfig Industrial Estate, just off Junctions 37 and 38 of the M4 between Cardiff and Swansea, with recently-improved road links providing excellent access to the motorway network.