Joint venture developer Richardson Barberry has announced it has completed the sale of a prime warehouse/logistics park in a £78 million off-market deal.
CCP 5, a fund advised by Tristan Capital Partners, has acquired More+ Central Park, totaling 559,228 sq ft, at Avonmouth near Bristol, from the West Midlands-based developers.
The prime mid-box logistics park includes five completed units forming the 176,393 sq ft phase one, and six further units to be built out as phase two providing a further 382,825 sq ft which will be developed by Richardson Barberry under the terms of the deal.
Construction is expected to start on phase two in Q2 2021. The scheme of 11 units comprises a total of 559,228 sq ft of grade A warehouse/logistics accommodation. Occupiers at phase one include Network Rail, Pilkington and SIG Roofing.
Jonathan Robinson, Barberry Industrial development director and shareholder, said: “The sale of More+ Central Park to Tristan Capital Partners for the sum of £78 million crystalises our business plan, which was to develop the first, best in class mid-box logistics park on Central Park, Avonmouth, cater for the supply/demand imbalance that exists in the occupier market in Avonmouth, and create a suitable trophy asset for a fund to purchase.
“The occupiers we have already attracted to the park, including Network Rail, SIG Roofing and Pilkington, pays testament to the quality and location of the business park and provides us with the confidence that phase two will also be a success and appeal to more quality occupiers. We are very much looking forward to starting phase two construction in March 2021, with practical completion in January 2022.”
He added “Richardson Barberry is incredibly proud of what we have created. This sale brings our business plan to a very successful conclusion, completing the development of our More+ Business Park, from acquiring the site in late 2017 to delivering our ambitious business plan within three years.”
Henry Bellfield, group director at Barberry, said: “The sale of More+ Central Park demonstrates yet again the ability of the Richardson Barberry joint venture to create trophy assets of the highest quality in first class, strategic locations. The Richardson Barberry partnership stretches back to the late 1980s and over two family generations. It’s extremely satisfying to add More+ to the list of successful prime developments. I would like to thank everyone involved in delivering this exceptional development and we look forward to securing further opportunities at key logistics sites in 2021.”
Mark Watkins, director at Richardson, said: “This transaction is another success for the Richardson Barberry partnership which has a long track record of delivering highly successful developments. We are already working together bringing forward a £140million logistics park in the north east and we are actively considering further opportunities in this sector as part of our ongoing development strategy.”
More+ Central Park is a motorway-connected mid-box industrial park, which is widely seen as a trophy asset, located within the premier distribution location for the South West. Strategically, it has excellent transport links, with the Avonmouth Docks and M49 providing access to the national motorway network. Demand for units has been high. The surrounding area is already home to Amazon, Lidl, The Range and DHL and many others.
Barberry is a privately-owned development and investment company based in the West Midlands. It is active in all sectors of the property market and has a reputation for creating investments for institutional markets. Barberry has a 3.3 million sq ft industrial/logistics development portfolio with a Gross Development Value of more than £398 million.
The Richardson family is a private, family-owned and operated property business with over half a century of real estate experience in the UK and overseas. Typically working in joint venture, the business has a long history of successful partnerships, having developed over 17 million sq ft of real estate across all sectors. More recently the family has continued to diversify by building an international growth capital portfolio across a range of sectors through a direct and co-investment programme.