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LONDON (Alliance News) - Harworth Group PLC on Thursday said it has let a warehouse to postal operator Whistl and exchanged contracts with housing and regeneration company Keepmoat Ltd to open up the first phase of housing at its Castlefield development.
Harworth, a brownfield regeneration and property investment specialist, said it let the 224,938 square foot warehouse to Whistl on a ten-year lease basis at a rent of GBP6.00 per square foot. Harworth completed the unit after a 30-week build programme, finishing at the end of December.
The warehouse is located in Harworth's Logistics North development in Bolton, where more than 2.0 million square foot of space has already been built or is committed to be built.
On Thursday, Harworth also said it has signed a deal with Keepmoat, under which Keepmoat will buy 9.88 acres of land to build 157 plots at Harworth's Flass Lane development in Castleford for GBP3.7 million.
The group said the sale is timed to complete when primary infrastructure works finish at the site in early summer and is the first at the development. Keepmoat is expected to build a selection of two and three-bedroom homes over the next 18 months.
The Flass Lane development as a whole has outline consent in place to 560 residential plots, up to 50,000 square feet of employment development and associated public open space.
"We believe the deal is a clear reflection of Harworth's ability to transform land into optimised sites for housebuilding customers. The UK still needs further brownfield land for new housing and ongoing demand in the regional housing markets we operate in remains strong," said Chief Executive Owen Michaelson.
Shares in Harworth were up 0.6% at 90.76 pence on Thursday morning.
By Hannah Boland; hannahboland@alliancenews.com; @Hannaheboland
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