Blackstone's St Modwen has signed American automotive and clean energy giant Tesla for 155,381 square feet of ultra-sustainable warehousing at the The Cofton Centre, part of its redevelopment of the Longbridge site in Birmingham, the home of many of Britain's most famous cars.
The Cofton Centre is a 35-acre, self contained secure, managed estate that is part of the largest regeneration project in the West Midlands, the £1 billion redevelopment of the Longbridge plant. News that Tesla will take a large hub there puts the area firmly back on the map for the British car industry.
Located 1.5 miles from St Modwen’s £70 million Longbridge town centre and its technology park, Cofton Centre is already home to the building, Birmingham 160, an 160,000-square-foot development. It has an energy performance certificate rating of A+, the highest and the BREEAM accreditation scheme's Outstanding status, which puts it in the top 1% of non-domestic-industrial buildings for sustainability in the UK.
Planning permission for the unit, which includes around 9,000 square feet of offices, was secured in 2022.
Tesla, one of the world's most valuable companies by market capitalisation, is an American company that designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles. Incorporated in the US in 2003, tycoon Elon Musk became its largest shareholder in 2004 and chief executive in 2008.
In December, the local council, Bromsgrove, approved plans for a storage and distribution centre. The plans were for a vehicle "delivery hub" for Tesla, including the storage and distribution of cars which are bought elsewhere and collected from the site by customers.
A non-material amendment was approved by Bromsgrove District Council to adjust the car park layout and install electric vehicle charging points, and a wash-bay for vehicles.
Bromsgrove District Council also received a planning application to place illuminated and non-illuminated Tesla lettering and logos on to the facade of the facility.
Since 1906, the Longbridge plant was a crucial part of the British vehicle industry producing Austin, Nash Metropolitan, Morris, British Leyland and most recently MG Rover cars. It was the birthplace of the Mini. The factory became dormant after MG Rover fell into administration in April 2005. Layoffs from the car industry caused economic decline in the surrounding area.
St Modwen bought the larger part of MG Rover’s Longbridge plant, 403 acres in total, in two transactions in 2003 and 2004 and has pursued a major regeneration. On completion, its plans should result in more than 1,200 jobs and more than 1,000 new homes.
Blackstone completed the £1.3 billion take private of St Modwen in 2021. It is planning to integrate the management of St Modwen with that of Industrials, the UK-focused multilet industrial investor it took private in a £700 million deal in March.
St Modwen and Tesla were approached for comment. Savills and Darby Keye Property, which represented St Modwen, both declined to comment.