Trammell Crow Company Acquires First Site in UK for Class A Speculative Industrial Logistics Park

Site Will be Transformed into Three-Building Park Comprising Approximately 340,000 SF

Trammell Crow Company (TCC), a leading global developer and investor in commercial real estate, announces it has acquired a prime 19.4-acre site in Milton Keynes, England to develop three Grade A speculative logistics buildings totaling approximately 340,000 square feet. The site at Merton Drive was home to the former Arcadia Distribution Centre. Construction is expected to begin in Q2 2022 with an expected completion date of Q2 2023.

“This is a unique opportunity, and we are extremely pleased to acquire our first site in Europe having only entered the market a few months ago. This important acquisition demonstrates our ability to identify and close prime opportunities quickly, in order to facilitate the rapid planned expansion of our European development programme,” said Mike Forster, Director and Head of UK logistics for Trammell Crow Company. “Milton Keynes is considered one of the key prime logistics locations in the UK, with excellent transport infrastructure that serves to attract a number of manufacturers, third-party distributors and, increasingly, large retailers operating their own distribution functions.”

The master planned site will comprise three buildings of 212,309 square feet; 70,816 square feet and 51,420 square feet. The building clear heights will range from 39 feet to 49 feet with yard depths ranging from 50 to 65 meters. With the growing likelihood of electric vehicles (cars and lorries) and increased levels of automation and overall power demand, the buildings will provide increased load capacity on the roof  to accommodate photovoltaic arrays and additional natural daylighting; will house transformers and primary electrical frameworks sized for increased electrical demand and reserves of power; have infrastructure made ready for electric vehicle charging; provide increased capacity of floor slabs for floor-standing mezzanines and pick-towers and have the flexibility to accommodate various office configurations.

In addition, the buildings will seek BREEAM Excellent certification by providing efficiencies in natural and artificial lighting; heating, cooling and ventilation; water conservation and storage as well as a careful selection of environmentally friendly construction materials.

“I am delighted that the first TCC European purchase is under our belt, which demonstrates our firm’s commitment to the European market,” said Ian Worboys, Head of European Logistics for Trammell Crow Company. “In addition to this project, we are currently in negotiations on sites in Spain, France and the Czech Republic and our German team opens for business on September 1. We will continue to acquire both brownfield and greenfield sites in strategic locations, such as this one at Milton Keynes, across Europe. The deal also reflects our policy to work closely with the agency world.”

CBRE represented Trammell Crow Company on the purchase, and DTRE represented the seller in the transaction, both of whom will have the letting assignment for the project.

Milton Keynes was designated a ‘New Town in 1967 and has developed and grown rapidly in recent decades with further expansion expected in the future. Milton Keynes’ strategic location allows large proportions of the UK population to be reached easily. 2.9 million people are within a 1-hour drive time, 27.9 million people are within 2 hours 15-minute drive time and 55.7 million people are within 4 hours 30-minute drive time.