The steady letting of property on SEGRO’s developments in Portsmouth and the M27 corridor is a good indicator of the performance of the region’s industrial market. At the Railway Triangle earlier this year Fraser Freight took a 10,460 sq ft warehouse/ production unit to add to its existing head office and warehouse space elsewhere in the city.
In May, SEGRO let a 50,000 sq.ft. production/warehouse unit at its Unit 1 Trilogy scheme, Segensworth, to Contego Packaging on a fifteen year lease. The Trilogy scheme is now fully let. SEGRO has also let a 10,667 sq.ft. industrial unit to Snows Group, a motor dealership, on a twelve year lease, at Mitchell Way, Portsmouth.
On Voyager Park, SEGRO has let an 8,775 sq.ft. unit to Transas for a new training facility. The company is a developer of software, integrated solutions and hardware technologies to the marine and aviation industries.
It has also let a slightly smaller unit to existing occupier, Stone Bridge Global. SEGRO has now sold or let 75% of the Explorer and Discovery phases at Voyager Park, which total 1,487 sq.metres (160,000 sq.ft.). Lambert Smith Hampton’s Adrian Whitfield highlights the strength of the south coast industrial market. He said: “With a general lack of available property, this year has seen landlords in a stronger position and in some instances it has led to the reduction in the level of incentives.” But rents remain static and while the market is tough due to the economy it is mainly a result of a lack of stock. “There are a number of requirements which could be the catalyst for a developer to build a speculative scheme. However, pre let, design and build occupier led deals are more likely,” Whitfield added.
Ross Moyler from Vail Williams commented “that we have seen steady levels of industrial take up over the last 6 - 12 months which is encouraging bearing in mind the backdrop of the current economic uncertainty. We have seen a handful of larger transactions which have further reduced the available stock of bigger buildings.“
