LONDON: The Aire Valley Land LLP has completed the sale of 43 acres of commercial development land at its Gateway 45 Leeds site to PLP for £30.3 million.

Aire Valley is the joint venture between Harworth Group plc and Evans Property Group.

The site has been acquired by PLP’s flagship investment vehicle, the PLP UK Logistics Venture (UKLV), which is owned by majority investor Ivanhoé Cambridge alongside PLP.

PLP has completed the deal following the receipt of reserved matters from Leeds City Council for 855,000 sq. ft of industrial & distribution space across four units. Work will begin on constructing these new units in Summer 2020.

The Gateway 45 site is adjacent to Junction 45 of the M1 that extends to 166 acres and has outline planning consent for 2.64 million sq ft of commercial space. Aire Valley Land LLP, a 50/50 partnership between Harworth Group plc and Evans Property Group, has spent the past four years preparing the site for development following its designation as a Government-backed Enterprise Zone.

This is the final land sale to complete at Gateway 45 Leeds this year, with three separate disposals totalling 55.5 acres generating a total consideration to Aire Valley Land LLP of £30.3m (£15.2m to Harworth).

The first, in March, involved the sale of 10 acres of fully serviced commercial land to the University of Leeds to build out their Institute for High Speed Rail, earmarked as the UK’s advanced rail education facility. 2.5 acres was also sold to Leeds City Council for an extension to its existing park and ride facility. A further 100 acres of land remains, with HS2 Ltd already reserving part of the site for a new Rolling Stock Depot to support the construction of Phase 2b of the line between Birmingham and Leeds.

Owen Michaelson, Chief Executive at Harworth Group plc, said: “When we invested into the Aire Valley Land Joint Venture in 2016, we said that we would create a development of national significance. This land sale, alongside our previous deal with the University of Leeds and its earmarking for a future HS2 Rolling Stock Depot, puts us on the road to delivering this promise in delivering thousands of new good-quality jobs in the North of England.”

Ian Ball, Chief Operating Officer at Harworth Group plc, said: “This deal caps an excellent year for the Aire Valley Land Joint Venture, concluding the sale of 60 acres of employment land in three separate transactions to high-quality counterparties. PLP has an experienced team with a proven track record and I am sure that they will make a success of their development.”

Edited by Kiran Khan