Panattoni announces plan for speculative development in Kent

Continued strong confidence in Kent as a home for high quality logistics and distribution companies has seen Panattoni, the largest industrial real estate developer in Europe, announce it is going to speculatively develop the final two units in Aylesford, Kent.

The decision follows Panattoni’s success in already securing DHL, Fowler Welch, and Hermes at its 90-acre Panattoni Park Aylesford, and pre-letting the rest of the space with prospective tenants.

Tony Watkins, Development Director at Panattoni, said: “Our decision to speculatively develop the final two units reflects the strong demand from occupiers looking to benefit from Aylesford’s excellent location.

“In the nine months since we acquired the site, we have let nearly 80% of the space. Our team is on site delivering multiple buildings with the first ones ready for occupation in the third quarter of this year, we look forward to welcoming them to the Park, with other well-known and respected occupiers to follow”.

The two units, each of 100,000 sq ft and 130,000 sq ft respectively, are expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2023, will be built to a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’ and an EPC rating of ‘A’. They will benefit from 15m clear internal height, 2 level access doors, electric charging points for cars, access to the park’s car share scheme and 50m yard depths.

The development of the speculative units follows detailed discussions between Panattoni and other occupiers on the remainder of the park, which when fully occupied will be home to more than 3,000 employees.

Panattoni Park Aylesford is being developed as a high-quality logistics space on the former Aylesford Newsprint site, close to junction 4 of the M20, to serve London and the South East. The £180 million investment will secure a sustainable logistics development, infrastructure, parking, landscaping and access, including the new £7 million Bellingham Way link road.

The sustainability strategy aims to minimise the operational use of carbon, which includes some scope three emissions from tenant activity and installed equipment and systems such as heating and lighting. Every building at the park will have air source heat pumps to control temperature in the offices and photovoltaic panels on the roofs. It is expected that these measures will generate up to 15% reductions in regulated energy use across the building. Panattoni is also working in partnership with Kent Wildlife Trust to achieve a 10% net gain in biodiversity at the site.

Agents at Panattoni Park Aylesford are CBRE, Avison Young and JLL.