Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) has exchanged conditional contracts for £65m to buy a development site at Littlebrook in Dartford. This is the former Littlebrook Power Station which was closed in 2015 and is a rare site inside the M25. It covers 124 acres and has the potential to provide around 1.7m of development space.
Demand for logistics space from retailers providing distribution depots, reflects the growing use of the Internet for shopping, and the supply of space within the M25 is currently well short of the levels of demand. The new site could hardly be better placed. It is adjacent to the London orbital; within one mile of the M2 and a couple of miles from the M20 with its direct link to the Channel Tunnel. It is also a short drive from Lakeside shopping centre on the north side of the Thames and Bluewater on the south side.
Tritax will be working in conjunction with specialist logistics developer Bericote Properties to apply for planning consent to cover the 1.2m sq ft that currently does not have consent for use for storage and distribution. The site will be developed in phases, with site costs estimated at £25m, and construction will commence on a pre-let basis from Autumn 2018.
