Page 17 - Real Rochdale Issue 13 Spring 2022

Kingsway Business Park

set for ‘unprecedented year’

2021 was an incredibly successful
year for Kingsway Business Park
and 2022 promises to be even
better. That’s the message from
Henry Henson, commercial
development manager at Wilson
Bowden Developments, after a
string of high-profile occupiers
and planning permissions were
secured in the last 12 months.

All the remaining units having been snapped up, there were no units readily
available for immediate occupation at Kingsway, so a series of speculative
developments have been brought forward and are due for completion in 2022.
Wilson Bowden Developments has started work on the 7.67 acre site between Sir
Isaac Newton Way and Lower Lane – known as Urban Park or Plot G.

The units on Urban Park, which vary in size from 21,570 sq ft to 39,740 sq ft, have
been bought speculatively by property investment company Urban Logistics REIT.
These are expected to complete in summer 2022.

Mr Henson said: “There’s a real pent-up demand for occupiers and investors for
prime development sites close to the main motorway network, which is why
Kingsway is so popular.

“Over the last 12 months, the retail sector has undoubtedly seen an acceleration of
growth from online sales as a result of the Covid pandemic. In turn, this has also had
a major knock-on impact for the need of additional parcel hub and last-mile delivery
facilities within the logistic sector, in order to meet the rising trend of fast
turnaround delivery timescales for consumers.

“We have also heard of many companies experiencing supply chain issues from
overseas throughout the Brexit and Covid periods. As a consequence, many
companies we have spoken to have been rethinking their business strategies,
resulting in more on shoring measures taking place. As a direct result, we are seeing
huge demand for new manufacturing and logistics space across our development
sites and especially at Kingsway.

“We’ve got more opportunities in the pipeline at Kingsway, both on a design and
build basis and spec funding opportunities. If you’re an occupier or an investor,
come and talk to us.”

www.investinrochdale.co.uk

REAL ROCHDALE - SPRING 2022 16 17 REAL ROCHDALE - SPRING 2022