Construction work has been completed at a £20m new industrial and warehouse development in Chandlers Ford which will bring an estimated 500 jobs to the region.
Alpha Park, on the Chandlers Ford Industrial Estate at School Lane and Electron Way, is one of the first speculative developments of its kind to be completed on the south coast in a decade.
Staff at nationwide courier and logistics company DX Network services were the first to move in, with 45 staff taking occupancy at the site’s 19,141 sq ft Unit 1 ahead of practical completion to run the home delivery service for IKEA.
The two other units in the scheme – Unit 3 of 84,381 and Unit 2 of 44,868 sq ft – are fully available and ready to occupy, with agents Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) and Colliers International reporting significant levels of interest.
Alpha Park, constructed by Bericote Properties in as scheme forward funded by BlackRock, was designed to cater for increasing demand from industrial and logistics occupiers for commercial property on the south coast.
Jonathan Maher, Director at Bericote Properties Ltd said: “We are proud to be able to officially say that Alpha Park is open for business, having been completed on schedule and against a background of huge demand in the region for Grade A units of this calibre. Southampton is a market that we believe in strongly which is why these units were built on a speculative basis.”
Adrian Whitfield, Industrial & Logistics Director for the South Coast offices at LSH, said: “This high-quality new park, funded as a speculative development, symbolises the current high levels of confidence in the market in the south.
“We are very excited to be welcoming the first occupiers at Alpha Park, having seen this project through all its stages, from securing funding from BlackRock, throughout its construction by Bericote Properties, and now to its completion.”
James Haestier, Director Industrial & Logistics at Colliers added “The units at Alpha Park are designed to be suitable for general industrial, warehouse and distribution use and all have been designed to a Grade A specifications, with generous eaves height and each with its own secure yard”.
The park was officially launched to the market with an on-site event last Thursday (October 19) which a number of industrial agents and council officers attended.
