Work commences at Barnsley speculative commercial development

Construction of the steel frame for new 75,000 sq. ft speculative unit at Gateway 36 in Barnsley has now begun.

Harworth Estates’ new Helix unit is the largest speculative commercial development in Barnsley for a number of years.

The new unit, which is also the only development of its size in the whole of Yorkshire, will provide manufacturing and logistics space with a BREEAM “Very Good” sustainability rating and forms part of the site’s 17-acre first phase of development.

Funding for the construction of the new unit has come from a £2.7m loan from the Sheffield City Region (SCR) Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas (JESSICA) Fund.

The new unit will be the fourth to be developed at Gateway 36, which is located by junction 36 of the M1 off the Dearne Valley Parkway.

Sheffield’s JF Finnegan is constructing the unit, which is expected to be completed in September 2016. Letting agents for the development are Knight Frank and Gent Visick.

The first three units, totalling 65,000 sq ft, were completed in February 2016 and have been pre-let to Barnsley Council, who are now looking to sub-let them to growing SMEs in the region.

Funding for these three units also came from the SCR JESSICA Fund, which provided a £4.8m loan to enable infrastructure works and the construction of the units to take place.

The first phase of Gateway 36 will create more than 450 new jobs in addition to having the potential to add £20m in Gross Value Added to the local economy.

All occupiers will have access to comprehensive business support through the council’s experienced investment team, including free guidance on access to finance, recruitment and training, as well as the potential to receive business growth coaching from the Enterprising Barnsley programme.

Dave Travis, associate director of business space at Harworth Estates, said: “I am proud of how Gateway 36 is developing and evolving, with the new Helix unit having great prominence in the Dearne Valley Parkway. Steel coming out of the ground should give local businesses confidence that the unit will be completed to time and ready for occupation from later this year.”

Shaun Higginbottom, business investment manager for Enterprising Barnsley, commented: “It is great to see yet more progress in the development of high quality industrial units at the prime Gateway 36 development. Having achieved our highest level of inward investment in seven years, business confidence and interest in Barnsley is strong and we look forward to working with Harworth Estates to attract an occupier to this excellent new facility as well as occupiers to the remaining units.”

Rebecca Schofield, Partner at Knight Frank, said: “Helix is ideally located with immediate access to Junction 36 of the M1 – thereby being well-placed to serve companies covering the South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire markets. The premises will be finished to a high specification, therefore offering the flexibility to cater for Distribution and Manufacturing requirements.”

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