An appliance, furniture and lifestyle store is expected to create 250 jobs at Castle Donington.
AEW UK Investment Management has signed a 12. 3-year lease with Buy It Direct for a 523,404-foot logistics warehouse, EMDC 525. La progression is a component of Allianz Real Estate’s independent account controlled through AEW filed in February 2019.
Category A logistics have 76 dock doors, a parking capacity for 157 trucks, a single height of 18 my a very intelligent BREEAM rating. The EMDC 525 has a stormwater recovery formula and the roof is designed to accommodate solar panels.
AEW manages the separate account vehicle owned by Allianz, which aims to finance the speculative progression of sets of 200,000 square feet or more in locations across the UK. This is the time to lease the company, which now rents all the sites built in the wallet.
AEW has partnered with Panattoni for Castle Donnington’s warehouse.
Nick Glynne, CEO of Buy It Direct, said: “Due to the exceptional call for products online, in component due to Covid, we urgently want a giant warehouse for our largest inventory of kitchen appliances, toilets and furniture. We didn’t have the luxury of spending time design and construction, so the new hangar at EMDC was ideal, had the right length and height and, fortunately for us, AEW and Panattoni had the courage and foresight to build a speculative warehouse in a prime location.
We are deeply inspired by the high quality specifications of the construction and professionalism of AEW and Panattoni allowed us to conclude an agreement very quickly.
“Our expansion forecast means we will want another giant site within 4 years, but in the meantime, we have more capacity to offer a third-party collection, packaging and shipping service, preferably for large products that can be stored in bulk on the ground or indoors. In addition, we will create 250 new jobs, in collaboration with Invest in Leicester, North West Leicestershire District Council, which is running with DWP and Leicester Employment Hub for us with our hiring needs».
Spencer Corkin, AEW’s Director of Acquisitions, said: “This is the time to lease our logistics company with Allianz Real Estate, and we are pleased to have signed a fast-growing e-commerce business in the UK. The emDC 525’s location is ideal for Buy It Direct’s expansion ambitions and will provide the company with a fair distribution base over the next few years.
“This assignment and lease continues our strategy and strengthens our appetite for speculative progression of logistics assets at key and well-established sites with the best professional calls and low vacuum rates. “
Charlie Royle, Executive Director of Asset Management at AEW, added: “We are very happy to have secured Buy It Direct in our new high-end logistics warehouse, EMDC 525. Buy It Direct has ambitious expansion plans for the coming years, and we are very much that you have selected EMDC 525 as your logistics base in central England».
Andy Preston, Development Director of Panattoni, said: “We are very pleased to have obtained the lease of this 523,404 square foot facility from the Buy It Direct online store, in a strategic location near East Midlands Airport and the M1, which Ok. This lease demonstrates the need for quality space in the logistics market, while reinforcing the strength of Panattoni’s speculative programme across the UK,” he added.