AEW has secured Frontier Park, in Milton Keynes – 760,000 sq. ft of logistics facilities in the UK’s prime South East market for its develop-to-core logistics venture with Allianz Real Estate, acting on behalf of Allianz group companies. Frontier Estates will develop the site for AEW.
The development of Frontier Park by the venture follows on from the successful completion and letting of 1.5 million square feet over the past 15 months in the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire.
Frontier Park is an established location for warehousing distribution and sits between London and Birmingham at the heart of the country’s motorway network. Located at the interchange of the A5/A508 a few miles to the M1, it has excellent access to the key South East and London conurbations and abroad via shipping terminals, rail network and airports.
The proposed new-build project is going in for full planning permission and will comprise nine units with the largest unit comprising 370,000 sq ft. The buildings will have up to 55m yards with clear haunch heights of 10-15 metres. The warehouses will be built to market-leading specifications with an EPC ‘A’ rating and BREEAM ‘Very Good’ certifications – in line with the portfolio decarbonization targets of the venture partners – and substantial power availability up to 5MVA.
Frontier Estates, a privately owned development company, is expected to begin work on site over the summer with practical completion due in Spring 2023.
Spencer Corkin, Director at AEW, says: “Frontier has a strong track record of delivering market leading developments, and we are pleased to work with them on this project. Milton Keynes is a key prime logistics and distribution location with excellent transportation infrastructure and access to high-value markets across the UK and Europe. This project strategically broadens and diversifies our geographical footprint, providing exposure to a highly supply-constrained environment with significant occupier demand.”
Hugues Braconnier, Head of Logistics, Allianz Real Estate, said: “Frontier Park represents the very best in the UK logistics sector and fulfils a tangible need for smart distribution infrastructure. The successful deployment of capital underscores the strength and quality of Allianz Real Estate’s sector approach in the UK and our strong desire to build on this momentum.”
Mike Mansell, Director, at Frontier Estates, says: “Having worked up this project over the last 12 months together with Allianz Real Estate and AEW, we are delighted Allianz group companies have come on board to fund the site purchase and delivery of the scheme in one phase.”
AEW has appointed DTRE and Savills as joint letting agents. TT&G and Mishcon de Reya acted for AEW on the acquisition. DTRE, Sandstone Law and Memory Crystal acted for Frontier Estates.
