News

Collective Investment Fund backs 6 acre industrial site in Oldbury

Opus Land and Palmer Capital have acquired a rare warehouse and industrial site, comprising 6.35 acres in an established Black Country location, at Severn Stars, Oldbury. Located  just off Junction 2 of the M5, the former scrapyard has been acquired with vacant possession, with funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA’s) Collective Investment Fund (CIF).

Opus Land seeks to meet the shortage of Grade A warehouses in the Black Country area by building a 121,175 sq ft B2/B8 unit. The site is set to be transformed into XPANSE 120, an industrial warehouse benefitting from offices on the first and second floors, 125 car parking spaces, lorry parking and a secure yard. The scheme is remediating over 6 acres of brownfield land and will create 203 full time equivalent jobs.

This is the second Opus Land scheme the WMCA has supported, after awarding the company funds from the CIF to develop two industrial units covering 14 acres, which will provide a total of 283,000 sq ft of accommodation at the former Kingswood open-cast colliery, near Cannock.

Harry Goodman, associate director of Opus Land, said:

“We are delighted to be involved in bringing forward this fantastic site in Oldbury for much-needed quality industrial accommodation in the heart of the Black Country. We will start construction speculatively, with completion due in Spring 2020, knowing that units of this size and location are in very high demand. We will offer a rare, flexible approach to occupiers seeking either freehold or leasehold options in new-build Grade A facilities.”

Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, said:

“This is yet another example of how, by working collaboratively with partners in the public and private sector, we are able to unlock unwanted and unloved brownfield land, in this case a former scrap yard. This site will now no longer be a blight on the area, instead it will become a large industrial unit capable of supporting many jobs and businesses here in Sandwell.

“We are working hard across the West Midlands to clean up derelict and contaminated brownfield sites like this to prepare them for development, creating the jobs and houses our region needs.”

Ed Bradburn, Frontier Development Capital, investment director for the CIF said:

“The WMCA CIF previously supported Opus Land in December 2016 to progress a speculative industrial scheme at Kingswood Lakeside, Cannock, which resulted in the successful sale of a newly constructed warehouse unit earlier this year.

"We have every confidence that the Severn Stars Road site will achieve the same success. It’s a great example of the fund in action, as the scheme is bringing a vacant site back into use to meet an increasing need for industrial units in the Black Country.”

For more information on the Collective Investment Fund click here or contact Ed Bradburn on 0345 319 4528.