(Updated on 4 May 2023 to add leasing agents.)
Third-party logistics firm Syncreon has agreed to prelet more than half a million square feet at Segro Park Coventry, CoStar News can reveal.
Syncreon has signed a deal to take a 598,050-square-foot, purpose-built shed at the West Midlands development in the first quarter of 2023, understood to be Unit 3A. Market sources have said Syncreon, a DP World Company, is paying a rent of around £8.50 per square foot.
The firm's deal at Segro Park Coventry comes hot off the heals of another large letting by Syncreon last month. That was for a 271,227-square-foot warehouse at Tritax Symmetry's Symmetry Park development in Bicester, Oxfordshire.
It is understood that the circa 600,000-square-foot letting was the largest warehouse dealof the first quarter of 2023, ahead of PLP's leasing of a 460,000 square feet in Crewe to retailer TK Maxx, first reported by CoStar News.
Syncreon's warehouse will be the fourth building at the development following last year’s 300,000-square-foot prelet to DHL, which became the first occupier to take a shed at the site, signing a 25-year lease. Segro is also building two speculative units totalling 340,175 square feet, which complete in September 2023.
The unit will be developed to high sustainability standards, targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating. It will include PV panels, an office heated by air source heat pumps, while a fifth of car parking spaces will be fitted with EV charging facilities.
Denis Doyle, head of UK contract logistics at DP World Europe, said: "We are pleased to be a part of this exciting development at Segro Park Coventry, which is a significant step as we continue to expand our logistics solutions offerings in the UK.
"We are confident that operating from this site will help us to simultaneously provide a high level of service for our customers as well as build on our strong sustainability values, which saw DP World reduce its carbon output across its operations in Europe by 20% last year compared to 2021."
Segro Park Coventry sits south of Coventry Airport and will provide up to 3.7 million square feet of industrial and logistics space, once complete. It provides easy access to six motorways within 16 miles and is a 15-minute drive from the city centre.
Andrew Pilsworth, managing director of national logistics at Segro, said: "It’s fantastic that Syncreon, which is a new customer for us, has selected Segro Park Coventry for its new state-of-the-art distribution hub. This deal further expands the diversity of our customer base and demonstrates demand from customers that are looking for modern, high-quality, sustainable warehouse space in the right locations.
"The development is anticipated to create over 7,000 jobs in total, playing a key role in driving economic growth in the region."
Colliers analysis of MSCI data suggests that rents across the UK’s distribution warehouse stock rose by a single percentage point in March, while supply of units of over 100,000 square feet increased during the last three months.
Overall warehouse supply across the UK also rose by 32% compared with figures from the final quarter of 2022, reaching 27.5 million square feet and in line with the five-year average, 26 million square feet.
Savills and DTRE acted for Segro.