Developers behind the largest logistics and manufacturing scheme in the region have sealed a £75m funding deal to pave the way for new industrial space.
Citrus Durham is spearheading the Integra 61 development near Durham, a mixed-use scheme with the potential to create more than 4,000 jobs over the next 10 years through industrial space, 300 new homes, a 70-bed hotel, vehicle dealerships, leisure space and a number of trade and retail units.
Now the firm has announced it has secured the significant sum to bring forward the speculative development of around 650,000 sq ft of new industrial space, to be known as Connect.
Read more: Find more deals stories from BusinessLive here
The funding has come from capital partner Sunrise Real Estate, a developer and asset manager specialising in logistics properties in Europe and the UK, and Avison Young and Colliers acted for Citrus Durham on the funding.
Connect will comprise a 342,000 sq ft industrial/logistics development of four units ranging from 43,000 sq ft to 152,000 sq ft.
In addition, a 298,000 sq ft stand-alone, 15 metre high bay industrial/warehouse unit called Connect 298 will be delivered on an adjacent plot.
Connect 298 will be the largest speculatively developed industrial/warehouse unit in the North East for over a decade and will fill a crucial void in the regional supply pipeline.
The new industrial space will join the park’s anchor tenant Amazon, which is up and running in a two million sq ft unit at the base and already has 1,000 people working at the site.
Meanwhile, Greggs will also open its first County Durham drive-thru restaurant at Integra 61.
Avison Young and CBRE will be marketing the new units to potential occupiers, helping to meet the demand for high quality new build industrial/warehouse accommodation in the region.
GMI Construction has been appointed as contractor for construction of Connect and is now on site, with the units ready for occupation in summer next year.
The acute shortages of high-quality modern logistics and industrial supply in the North East have been analysed by the Citrus team and the units have been sized to satisfy the growing regional demand for units.
David Cullingford, project lead for Integra 61 and Citrus, said the development marks one of the North East’s most significant regeneration projects with outline consent in place for over three million sq ft of employment space.
He said, occupiers can choose design and build packages for units to meet specific requirements, and this speculative phase of development will satisfy those companies looking for space that is already under construction.
He said: “The funding will accelerate delivery of the next phase of development at Integra 61. 2022 is proving to be an exciting year with lots of activity on-site and we are looking forward to delivering these new speculative units as quickly as possible.
"We have a real opportunity here to make a significant contribution to the regional pipeline for industrial/logistics accommodation and to ease the well-documented shortages in the North East. This is a thriving region with a superb workforce and businesses and we hope to bring more jobs and opportunities with this next multi-million pound investment at Integra 61.”
