ProLogis, the world’s largest owner, manager and developer of distribution facilities, announced that it will develop a new, 1.1 million-square-foot distribution facility for Marks & Spencer, a leading fashion, food and home products retailer in the United Kingdom.
“Marks & Spencer’s new, state-of-the-art facility will be a flagship development for ProLogis in the UK,” said Andrew Griffiths, managing director for ProLogis in the UK. “In addition to warehousing and office space, the building will include training rooms, onsite catering and staff facilities. We believe this development demonstrates our ability to deliver build-to-suit solutions on an unparalleled scale.”
Marks & Spencer’s new facility will be developed at ProLogis Park Bradford, a 90-acre business park located in the county of Yorkshire in northern England. The building will be built to achieve a minimum rating of Very Good under the BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), the UK’s national standard for best practices in sustainable development and environmental performance, and will employ approximately 2,500 people when fully operational.
In addition, ProLogis has committed to develop the facility to achieve carbon neutral status, offsetting any emissions produced during the construction process through the purchase of carbon credits and various organic reductions.
Matthew Byrom, ProLogis vice president of development in the UK, added, “This is a perfect example of what can be accomplished with a forward-thinking local council and proactive business community. We are genuinely proud to contribute to the growth of Bradford’s economy with the development of our modern, new industrial park.”
At full build-out, ProLogis Park Bradford will contain two buildings comprising up to 1.25 million square feet of space. ProLogis plans to develop additional office and industrial space at the site on a build-to-suit basis, and is currently marketing the park to businesses with local and regional operations.
ProLogis is the United Kingdom’s largest provider of industrial facilities with 20 million square feet of space owned, managed and under development, as of June 30, 2008. Current ProLogis customers in the region include ASOS.com, Bosch-Siemens, The Co-operative Group, GEFCO, Honda Logistics, Pirelli, Sainsbury’s, Screwfix, Superdrug and Tesco.
