Commercial property expert, Kevan Carrick, of JK Property Consultants, reflects on his role as advisor on the £200m Teesside Airport Business Park as it moves to construction phase
Nothing attracts the attention of people in the North East more than the creation of jobs. For that one reason alone, I was delighted to hear that construction phase on the £200 million Teesside Airport Business Park was underway. With it comes the real prospect of over 4,000 new jobs.
My role involved advice on the purchase of Teesside International Airport and maximising its commercial opportunities, which I was delighted to do. I recommended the development of a transport hub and logistics centre and work has now commenced with the construction of a link road to Business Park South at Teesside International Airport.
When fully complete, the Park will comprise of 1.9m sq ft of logistics, distribution and industrial buildings.
I have extensive experience in that area and, over the years, I have recommended plans for a vast range of transport hubs including Paragon Station Hull, York, Darlington and Hexham rail stations. I knew that this strategy would work perfectly at Teesside Airport Business Park.
A transport hub is the co-joining of activities, involved in the movement of people and goods, with connections of aircraft, trains, buses, commercial vehicles and cars. This cohesion of transportation is move efficient and sustainable. A transport hub enhances value of the property, generates greater revenue amongst the activities and achieves economic growth with the creation of jobs. A positive all round.
This was an exceptional project to work on and I knew from the outset that the purchase of the airport and the wider commercial opportunities this presented, had the potential to be transformational for the Tees Valley. The purchase of the airport was the first move followed by plans for a business park that focussed on a transport hub and logistics centre. It is wonderful to see the project progressing and the prospect of so many jobs being created fills me with great pride.
Key progress has now been made on the first unit of the development and, in due course, units covering 130,000sq ft will be created in the first phase of the southside development, with work on the first 25,000sq ft unit now under way.
Further phases will see plots of between one to 200 acres developed as more businesses look to base themselves at the airport. Work on the new link road to connect the business park is also now nearing completion after beginning earlier this year.
The new link road will include a footpath and cycleway to improve access for pedestrians and cyclists. Income from the development, which will be suitable for manufacturing, logistics and research and development industries, will go back into financially supporting the airport.
Kevan Carrick
JK Property Consultants LLP
www.jkpropertyconsultants.com