St. Modwen, the UK's leading regeneration specialist, has
announced the £10.7m sale of the investment in Stoke on
Trent's largest new build commercial office building.
Currently being constructed to a bespoke specification for
occupier Vodafone UK, the building at Etruria Valley Business Park
has been sold to a private investor with an initial yield of 8 per
cent.
The property which is on target for completion in August to be
operational from September, will be leased to Vodafone UK for 16
years at £912,000 per annum.
The development is being undertaken by Stoke-on-Trent
Regeneration Ltd., the joint venture company with Stoke-on-Trent
City Council run and managed by St Modwen's North Staffordshire
regional team.
"The sale of the investment in this property followed a period
of competitive bidding for the deal is a strong sign that there are
currently good levels of interest in commercial properties in Stoke
on Trent," commented Mike Herbert, St. Modwen's North Staffordshire
regional director.
"This is the largest purpose built office building St. Modwen
has ever created in Staffordshire and indeed we believe it is the
largest of its kind in the region. Construction of the building is
progressing on target and this landmark is fast rising from the
ground. Etruria Valley is an extremely popular business
location in Stoke and we are confident that this building will not
only make a visual statement of the Vodafone brand but will also
create an environment which Vodafone employees will be proud to
work in."
The company has released the latest construction images of the
building which will bring Vodafone UK's four existing Stoke offices
together under one roof to create an 850 seat call centre.
Construction of the 80,900 sq ft (net) building requires some 450
tonnes of structural steel and once complete will be large enough
to hold two jumbo jets from nose to tail.
Designed and created in conjunction with St Modwen's architects
RPS Design, the landmark building is intended to set a new standard
for call centres in the UK, with a strong focus on creating a
light, bright working environment.
Highly sustainable, the building comprises 100 percent
recyclable metal cladding and is complemented by high natural day
lighting levels and structural detailing in Vodafone's distinctive
red corporate colour. Designed to achieve a BREEAM 'very
good' rating. The building includes solar shading and a
cantilevered roof form to reduce solar gain and cooling loads,
alongside a winged roof shape which allows rainwater
harvesting.
The building has a prominent central entrance which opens out
into an expansive central reception area featuring two cinema style
projection screens and providing access to a wealth of mezzanine
level facilities. The call centre is divided into south and north
wings offering 400 and 450 workstations, respectively, alongside a
300 seat cafe and restaurant plus meeting and training rooms.
The 125 acre Etruria Valley Business Park is the site of the
former Shelton Steel Works and is an expansion of St. Modwen's
highly successful Festival Park scheme. It is being developed
over two phases, in a joint venture with Corus. Phase one, a 35
acre site has already been completed with a total of 167,000 sq ft
of office space, alongside a further 148,000 sq ft of industrial /
trade park space. The Vodafone Call Centre is the first
development on the 90 acre Phase two site. Extensive site
reclamation works have been completed and so far 143,500 sq ft of
development is in progress, including the Vodafone building.
Further development opportunities are available at the
Business Park.
St Modwen were represented on the Investment sale by Colliers
CRE and Knight Frank acted on behalf of the investor. DTZ
acted on behalf of Vodafone on the pre letting agreement.