Global property giant Hines picks Oldham to start its £1.3bn joint venture with Chancerygate

Global property giant Hines and developer Chancerygate have formed a £1.3bn joint venture - and have launched it with a deal for a £39m development in Oldham.

The two companies plan to speculatively develop 166,500 sq ft of Grade A sustainable urban logistics space on the 7.5-acre site at Broadway Green on the Lydia Becker Way spine road.

It’s the first activity for their new JV to develop multi-let urban logistics schemes. The JV has been funded by Hines European Real Estate Partners III (HEREP) and has more than £1.3bn of equity commitments.

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The JV bought the last commercial site on Broadway Green, which is near junction 21 of the M60. It bought the site from FO Developments - a consortium of Oldham Council, Grasscroft Property and Seddon Developments - for an undisclosed sum.

It will be Chancerygate’s second project at Broadway Green and the developer says its earlier Broadway Central project, which completed in March, is already 35% let or under offer, with “very strong interest” in the remaining units.

Chancerygate and Hines announced an earlier equal JV in 2018 to target urban logistics schemes. It invested into eight schemes and delivered around 1m sq ft of accommodation.

The new Oldham scheme will, subject to planning, include 18 leasehold units ranging from 4,700 sq ft to 20,500 sq ft, all targetting a BREEAM Excellent rating. The completed scheme would have a gross development value of around £39m.

Chancerygate has some 1.16m sq ft of urban logistics space under construction or ready for development at 10 sites ranging from Croydon to Edinburgh.

Its managing director, Richard Bains, said: “Our first joint venture partnership with Hines was extremely successful in delivering strategically located multi-let urban logistics schemes across the UK.

“We forged a highly effective working relationship during that time, so we are excited to once again partner with Hines to deliver Grade A, sustainable accommodation where it is most needed.”

Hines manages a UK commercial property portfolio worth more than £2bn and has advised on more than 4m sq ft of schemes acquired, completed or in the pipeline.

Greg Cooper, managing director and head of UK industrial and logistics at Hines, said: “We are pleased to be extending our partnership with Chancerygate through this venture as we continue to scale our multi let urban logistics platform throughout the UK.

“The partnership will be well placed to meet HEREP III’s objective to execute the development of modern sustainable multi let urban logistics product in strategic urban distribution nodes.”

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