Keyland Announces Sale Of Stake In Key Northern Logistics Hub Site

Keyland Developments has sold its 50% share interest in the 165 acre Temple Green logistics hub in the Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone to invest in its new business model of working with regional landowners to facilitate the regeneration of strategic sites. Keyland, which is the property trading business of Kelda Group and a sister company of Yorkshire Water, has sold its 50% share in The Aire Valley Land LLP to Harworth Estates, the UK property regeneration company wholly owned by Harworth Group plc.

The deal sees Harworth Estates become 50:50 partner in Temple Green with Evans Property Group. Keyland was represented by Gent Visick and Harworth acted on its own behalf. Temple Green is the single largest employment site in the Leeds City Region with planning permission in place for 2.64m sq ft of commercial space at Junction 45 of the M1. It is recognised as the largest industrial and distribution development to emerge in Leeds for over a generation. With a £9.1m infrastructure programme close to completion at the site, it will soon be oven-ready for large scale development with guaranteed delivery timescales. Harworth will now contribute its extensive experience in bringing forward large commercial sites, such as Logistics North in Bolton, to generate development on a key strategic site for Leeds in partnership with Evans Property Group.

The site also sits adjacent to Harworth’s existing landholding at the 162 acre former Skelton Grange power station – providing the potential for future complementary uses. Keyland’s business model focuses on the front-end of the development cycle, overcoming obstacles to development to bring sites to market and enable regeneration. On Temple Green, Keyland’s enabling role has been fulfilled and the team has cited buoyant market conditions and the site’s imminent development-ready status as presenting the prime time to sell its interests. After two decades of developing a successful formula for maximising the value of key sites, Keyland is now extending its services beyond the portfolio of Yorkshire Water to other landowners in the North of England. Keyland’s first Planning Promotional Agreements have just been agreed and involve two separate sites in West Yorkshire, which have a combined 21 acres of land identified by Keyland as prime for residential allocation.

The sites could bring about the development of some 240 new homes. Additionally, the team has been busy preparing a number of strategic sites across the region for future industrial development and has recently secured planning permission for 180,000 sq ft across three sites in Huddersfield and Doncaster. Keyland is working on opportunities to bring forward land to accommodate a further 765,000 sq ft of industrial development, with plans to unlock 10 sites in the next three years.