Wragge & Co has advised property development and investment specialist Graftongate Investments on the pre-let of a 1.1 million sq ft industrial unit to Amazon – the biggest industrial pre-let development in the last year.
Located in Dunfermline, Scotland, the site will be developed by Graftongate Investments to create a major new distribution centre for Amazon – approximately the size of 14 football pitches. It will form one of the cornerstones of Amazon’s expanding UK distribution network, serving customers across the UK and internationally.
Real estate partner Mike Trainer led the deal with construction associate Kerry Burns. The team worked closely with Philip Silk, director at Graftongate Investments. The project is being funded by HSBC Specialist Investments through its European Real Estate Fund HEAREF.
Mike Trainer said: “This is a significant project for Graftongate and a landmark deal for the industrial property market. Drawing on our strong track record of advising on high-value and complex deals, we worked closely with the management team to structure the deal carefully and ensure all key investment criteria were met.”
Philip Silk added: “In terms of square footage this is certainly the biggest deal we’ve done to date and builds on our successful strategy of investing in high-value schemes. Given the size and complexity of the transaction we knew we needed a specialist team of advisers and Wragge & Co has really added value. Along with its first-rate technical skills the team has shown it has a strong understanding of our business needs and priorities.”
Work on the site begins immediately and the new distribution centre is expected to be up and running by the end of 2011, creating more than 650 jobs in the area. It will distribute a wide range of Amazon items and provide increased capacity to support growth.
Graftongate Investments is a privately-owned property development and investment company, focused on the business space markets. It works in joint venture partnerships with occupiers, landowners and investors to deliver industrial and commercial schemes throughout the UK. In this latest deal Taylor Wessing advised HSBC Specialist Investments and Amazon was advised by Biggart Baillie.
Wragge & Co’s ten-partner Commercial Development team is part of the firm’s 140-lawyer full-service Real Estate group. The team is one of the biggest dedicated commercial and development practices in the UK and handles a wide range of acquisitions, developments and disposals for UK and international developers and investors. Based in Birmingham and London its experts work as a single team to provide clients with a full range of services and develop a tailored approach.
In the last few months the team has also acted for Covanta Energy in its joint venture with Peel Environmental to create Ince Park – one of the UK’s largest ‘eco-parks’.
