Infrastructure improvements have helped boost the appeal of Cross Hands in Carmarthenshire, with a spate of new deals taking one of its key office and retail parks close to full occupancy, and at pre-recession values.
At Cross Hands Business Park, demand is outstripping supply with the recent transactions indicative of the area’s increasing appeal as a business location, says Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).
The national commercial property consultancy has negotiated terms on behalf of two private landlords, with two lettings to Floors4U and Bush Healthcare Limited and a sale to Brodyr Evans Bros.
Built in the 1980s, the expansive park is situated opposite the Food Park next to the A48/M4, a key link route between east and west Wales. A new, second entrance was added recently, greatly improving access and visibility which says LSH has contributed to strong interest in the few remaining properties.
“The private sector funded park was originally designed for speculative and owner-occupier developments as well as expansion projects, to create jobs and provide a boost to the regional economy and it has certainly achieved this,” says Jason Thorne, a Director at LSH.
“It is a West Wales regeneration success story with Leekes department store a long-standing anchor tenant and with these latest deals commanding good sale prices and rental yields, this further demonstrates its appeal.”
Specialist flooring retailer, Floors 4 You, which has 28 stores nationwide, has taken a 10-year lease on the 3,500 sq ft Unit 2A Heol Stanllyd at a rent of £27,000 per year. A second Heol Stanllyd letting was to Bush Healthcare Ltd which has also taken 3,500 sq ft in Unit 2B for a term of 10 years at an annual rent of £28,500. The suppliers of mobility and healthcare equipment as well as stair lifts and easy access bathrooms, has 11 stores in South Wales, and has recently opened an outlet in Hereford with another set to open in Yate.
Elsewhere on the development at 20 Heol Parc Mawr, Brodyr Evans Bros has purchased the former Keyline premises. The Massey Ferguson tractor dealer, which has a number of premises across Wales, will relocate from Cwmgwili also in Carmarthenshire to the 12,300 sq ft building which is set across a 1.5 acre site.