Hargreaves Land is delighted to announce the early completion of the sale of a 79-acre plot (32 hectares) to a national retailer by its Unity joint venture. The sale is the first significant transaction on the Unity mixed use development scheme which is held in a 50:50 joint venture with regional developer Waystone Developments.

The site is for the development of an 800,000 sq ft distribution and training centre. Revenue from the sale of approximately £25m was received in full by the joint venture on completion and is being retained within that entity while the Unity board reviews the project’s future funding requirements.

Unity, located immediately to the east of Doncaster, is one of the largest regeneration schemes within the Yorkshire region and has planning permission for 2 million square feet of commercial space and 3,100 homes across 650 acres. The project reached a major milestone in December 2020 with the completion and opening of the new Link Road which provides the whole development with direct access to junction 5 of the M18 motorway.

This sale was originally expected to complete in the second half of the financial year ending 31 May 2022 following completion of the site access road and plot servicing. This work, which commenced at the beginning of 2021 and is programmed to complete at the end of this year, is funded independently from Hargreaves. The sale has now been brought forward at the purchaser’s request.

Chairman, Roger McDowell, commented: “The Unity scheme is one of the most exciting developments in Hargreaves Land’s portfolio and it is encouraging that our purchaser has perceived the benefit of early completion to accelerate their project delivery. This will undoubtedly further enhance the attractiveness of the Unity development to other commercial users.“