Construction and engineering work commenced yesterday (20.10.14) on two of the key sites in the Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone where 260,000 sq ft of employment space is now in the pipeline, providing a major boost for the city region’s manufacturing sector and the regional industrial property market.

Two new industrial units are being built at Thornes Farm by Stainforth Construction on behalf of Wilton Developments, providing 50,000 sq ft and a 30,000 sq ft of modern manufacturing space. The £5 million speculative development is scheduled for completion in Summer 2015

Engineering and ground remediation also gets underway this month at Temple Green. At 72 hectares, it is the largest of the development site within the Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone.

Aire Valley Land, a partnership between Evans Property Group and Keyland, is developing the site and has planning permission for 3m sq ft of development for large scale manufacturing and distribution. In addition consent was recently approved for motor vehicle dealerships, a petrol filling station and a 1,000 space park and ride facility.

Road infrastructure and ground engineering work costing over £7 million will deliver access to a series of development platforms with the ability to accommodate buildings up to 500,000 sq ft. Construction work on the park and ride facility is scheduled to start in Autumn 2015.

In November, work will begin on developing an 80,000 sq ft industrial unit at Logic Leeds site, where Muse Developments has planning permission for a total of 1.6m sq ft of industrial, distribution premises and supporting uses including offices and hotel development.

Agreement is also imminent between developer CPD Ltd and two occupiers to build two bespoke units of 27,000 sq ft and 50,000 sq ft on land at Thornes Farm. CPD Ltd has submitted a planning application for a further 20,000 sq ft unit on behalf of a third end user.

The acceleration of development within the enterprise zone follows grant funding of £8.57 million secured by Leeds City Council from central government’s Building Foundations for Growth programme and agreement by the council to underwrite development risk on the Wilton and Muse developments.

Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has provided a £4 million loan through its Growing Places Fund to kick start development on the Temple Green site. The £8 million park and ride facility is being funded through the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund.

With a total development pipeline of over 4 million sq ft, the enterprise zone is a key driver of economic growth and job creation for the Leeds City Region and is being promoted this week at MIPIM UK as a prime opportunity for business and investment.

Roger Marsh, Chair of Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership said: “The Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone is one of the country’s major development opportunities for new business investment with an attractive package of business incentives.

Cllr Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council’s executive member for transport and the economy said: “The Enterprise Zone offers unparalleled advantages in terms of its scale, connectivity, its proximity to Leeds city centre and to one of the UK’s biggest concentrations of manufacturing.

“That’s why the council has taken this proactive approach to secure funding in order to accelerate development, stimulate private sector investment and attract growth and jobs to the zone.”