Space Property - Industrial Development - Cheltenham, Neptune Business Centre

Date: 04 Feb 2008

Space Property, acting on behalf of the Space Business Centre Investment Partnership, has acquired the second phase of the Neptune Business Centre on Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham and is about to submit a planning application for a 56 unit serviced industrial scheme.

Space Property paid Neptune Land £1.3m for the 2.1 acres site. It plans to develop a 29,500 sq ft Space Business Centre providing flexible industrial workspace for smaller businesses. Units will range from 350 sq ft to 750 sq ft and will be available on monthly licences.

Alex Gale, development director of Space Property, said: "We believe that we are one of the few people providing a flexible workspace environment aimed solely at the industrial sector. The success of the serviced building concept for offices has been proven and we are merely extending the philosophy to a different sector."

"This site proved particularly attractive because there is a real scarcity of units this size in what is an affluent area and one that boasts a significant number of small businesses. Having undertaken a lot of research, we believe there is considerable latent demand for such space in the area."

The first phase of Neptune's scheme which completed in the summer represented the first significant industrial development in Cheltenham for over 20 years and was comprised of high quality industrial warehouse units.

Tony Murphy, director at Neptune Land, said: "The first phase of Neptune Business Centre has proved popular with local occupiers and taps into a current gap in the market. I am confident that the Space Business Centre concept will work well here and that the second phase of the scheme will complement our existing development."

Space Property has now purchased six sites for its Space Business Centre concept, spread across the south of England but plans to open 40 SBCs in the next five years.

The development programme is funded by the Space Business Centres Investment Partnership which was set up by Jones Lang LaSalle Corporate Finance and funded by Clydesdale Bank and which raised £39m from private investors and by way of debt finance.

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