The occupant of a 65,000sq ft warehouse and office development taking shape at Lindley Moor has been revealed.
Industrial springs supplier Lesjöfors Springs has paid an undisclosed sum for the premises which are being built on land fronting Lindley Moor Road and opposite the Wappy Springs pub.
And it has been confirmed that more industrial units are set to be built on the site – now named Summit 24 Business Park.
Lesjöfors Springs will move from its current premises at Lowfields Business Park at Elland when the building is complete early next year – employing 25 people in total at Lindley Moor.
The warehouse and office is being built by Elland-based Marshall Construction as the first phase of the £15m Summit 24 scheme for developer Stirling Scotfield. The deal was brokered by the Leeds office of global property consultancy Knight Frank.
Robert Glynn, of Lesjöfors, said: “We are moving to Summit 24 because we need the extra space. The 65,000sq ft unit is designed to our specification and perfect for our needs, plus there is potential to add a further 15,000sq ft within the site should we need to.
“We also felt it was time, due to the company’s ongoing success, to buy our own premises rather than lease.
“In addition, the business park is exceptionally well-located, close to the M62 and Yorkshire’s excellent motorway network. We’ve also got a dedicated entrance, providing privacy and security.”
The 13-acre Summit 24 site – bounded by Crosland Road to the east and the playing fields behind Laund Road to the west – will offer individual units from 20,000sq ft to 200,000sq ft on a design and build basis. The units will be available as either freehold or leasehold.
Jonathan Hyland, partner at Knight Frank in Leeds, said that the development provided a “rare opportunity for occupiers seeking premises in West Yorkshire.”
He said: “The Lesjöfors deal is a ringing endorsement of the quality of Summit 24 and everything it has to offer. We have considerable flexibility in the unit sizes we can offer and are talking to several other potential occupiers.
“We expect most interest to be in the region of 20,000sq ft to 100,000sq ft but we are able to provide a larger unit than this if required.
“Opportunities are scarce for businesses looking for larger manufacturing and distribution premises of more than 100,000sq ft west of Leeds.
“There is a real shortage of modern and new industrial property across the region at present; conversely we are experiencing good levels of enquiries for new premises as companies look to expand and invest in their operations.”
The Leeds office of GVA Bilfinger are joint marketing agents for Summit 24 with Knight Frank.
Stirling Scotfield received planning permission for Summit 24 in July last year to develop two plots for employment use.
Lesjöfors has factories in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, England, China, Slovakia, Mexico and the US as well as Elland.
The deal to bring Lesjöfors Springs to Lindley Moor comes just weeks after turbocharger firm Cummins Turbo Technologies announced it had abandoned plans for a new factory not far away at Ainley Top.
The firm said it had made the “difficult decision” on the basis of “challenging” market conditions which had hit sales in the firm’s international markets; “very weak” global demand in power generation, mining, marine, oil and gas markets; and the higher-than-expected costs, complexity and time related to the proposed Ainley Top development. Uncertainty following the Brexit vote had been a factor.
The move would have seen about 400 jobs transfer to a new 18,000sq ft facility at the junction of Brighouse Road and New Hey Road. Now the company is to develop its existing manufacturing facilities at St Andrew’s Road, Turnbridge.
