Steelpark development gets underway

Construction of a multi-million pound speculative development of a range of industrial and warehouse units at a key West Midlands site is underway, commercial property company Goold Estates announced today.

The development, which has planning consent from City of Wolverhampton Council, is expected to attract significant investment and generate dozens of new jobs. Construction firm J. Tomlinson has been appointed as contractor for the project.

The Steelpark Trading Estate development of about 70,000 sq ft of industrial/warehouse units at Steelpark Way and Bearing Drive, Wednesfield, is expected to reach practical completion at the end of the year.

Dominic Goold, managing director of Walsall-based Goold Estates, said: “It is great to see construction underway. We are looking forward to delivering a high-quality development, which will attract investment and jobs to the region.

“The Steelpark site, which is adjacent to the Tata Steel Automotive Service Centre, has been vacant and available for development for many years. We acquired it in September last year and we’ve acted quickly to secure planning consent and get the development underway. We expect Steelpark to reach completion at the end of this year.

“All of the units are being built speculatively, for sale or lease, because we are confident there is a strong demand in the market. These will be high quality industrial units in a sought-after location with excellent access to the motorway network, being just 4.6 miles west of J10 M6 and four miles south of J1 M54.”

Finance Birmingham has arranged speculative development finance to help fund the project through the West Midlands Combined Authority Collective Investment Fund CIF. This fund aims to accelerate economic regeneration, assisting developers and land owners to bring forward schemes such as Steelpark.

Nick Oakley, senior investment director at Finance Birmingham, said: “It’s great to see work on Steelpark begin. This is an excellent, well-located site and we are delighted to be supporting Goold Estates in bringing forward this development which will soon deliver much needed quality industrial accommodation.”

Councillor John Reynolds, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “There is £3.7 billion of investment on site or in the pipeline in the City of Wolverhampton and this is another boost for our regeneration plans.

“The Steelpark Trading Estate development will bring back to life a site that has been redundant for many years, while at the same time protect wildlife in the area. It shows there is confidence in investing in Wolverhampton and most importantly it will bring dozens of jobs to the city.”

Since its development Steelpark has been a great success for Goold Estates, with a labels giant being just one of the companies snapping up one of the six industrial units on a multi-million pound speculative development