Sale of former water treatment site paves way for major development

A 57-acre former water treatment works site in West Yorkshire, with planning consent for about 400,000 sq ft of industrial and employment space, has been acquired.Keyland Developments, the property trading arm of Kelda Group and sister company to Yorkshire Water, has sold the North Bierley Water Treatment Works site to Opus North for an undisclosed sum.Keyland secured planning consent last year from Kirklees Council to redevelop the site, which has been redundant for almost 20 years, into a commercial development of about 400,000 sq ft of industrial and employment space, which could support the creation of 800 jobs. Opus North aims to appoint a contractor at North Bierley in the forthcoming months with work set to commence on site in Q1 2020 delivering the first unit of a total circa 370,000 sq ft industrial development, which will comprise freehold and leasehold units from 15,000 sq ft up to 125,000 sq ft.The purchase reflects the Yorkshire-based developer’s focus on the industrial and logistics sector, following on from a series of retail schemes across the North of England, and will add to its current £150m development programme. Dove Haigh Phillips marketed the site for Keyland Developments with Shulmans providing legal advice on the sale. Knight Frank provided assistance on the acquisition for Opus North.