Free electricity for business tenants will be provided at a new £8m light industrial scheme, with a high environmental specification, which is underway in a major new expansion at Thorp Arch Estate near Wetherby.
The free electricity will be provided through solar photovoltaic panels fitted as standard to the new units, which will be operationally carbon net zero, and are being built for estate owner, as phase IV of the popular Ash Way development.
The development is equidistant between Leeds, Harrogate and York and will comprise nine light industrial units providing a total of 93,527 sq ft, with individual units of between 4,000 sq ft and 31,527 sq ft, and is expected to be complete in November this year (2022).
The scheme will comprise seven-metre-eave warehouses, up-and-over loading doors, heated offices, PIR operated LED lighting, loading yards and full fibre to the premises (FFTP), using Thorp Arch Estate’s superfast broadband which has true on-site resilience.
Ash Way IV will become the base for around 130 jobs and will comprise three units of 4,000 sq ft; two of 6,000 sq ft, and one each of 10,000 sq ft, 13,000 sq ft, 15,000 sq ft and 31,527 sq ft.
The scheme aims to achieve an energy performance certification (EPC) ‘A’ rating, which was achieved at Ash Way III, and a BREEAM ‘very good’ rating.
The new industrial units are being built by Castlehouse Construction, Leeds, with property and construction consultants, LHL Group, York.
The first Ash Way scheme was built in 2005 and comprises five units totalling 46,201 sq ft. Phase II followed in 2016 with six units totalling 32, 836 sq ft and Ash Way III was built in 2019 with five units totalling 48,152 sq ft. Business occupiers include life sciences company Avacta and Nuffield Health.
The 385-acre Thorp Arch Estate, a former war time munitions factory offering two million sq ft of commercial premises, is the base for more than 170 businesses, from small businesses to large plcs, operating in local, national and international markets and employing more than 2,000 people.