As published in the Colchester Connected Issue 4 Magazine:
Built for Industry, enterprise and limitless opportunity.
As the only new, commercial property development of its kind in Colchester, can you afford not to consider relocating to the Easter Park estate?
Colchester is fast becoming one of the UK’s most desirable locations for business. We’re now officially the fastest-growing borough in the country, and thousands of new people every year are flocking here to live and work. We’re also in a prime location with excellent access to ports, airports and the capital. Little wonder, then, that local and national companies both want a bigger slice of the action.
There’s just one big problem: a lack of suitable commercial premises. Whilst there have been numerous smaller developments in and around the town, we haven’t been building units that meet the floorspace requirements of many growing and large companies. Much of the existing stock is in our congested town centre, which means that we’ve missed out on opportunities to help local businesses grow and on the chance to lure in major firms that need state-of-the-art facilities and first-class transport links.
This situation has changed with the creation of Easter Park, a new development of high quality industrial and warehouse buildings on the northern perimeter of Colchester, offering units between 5,250 and 32,050 square feet that are only a stone’s throw from the A12. The moment the government-funded junction to the main road is finished, Easter Park’s reputation will be sealed as one of the most strategic business locations in the region- only 62 miles from London, 33 from Stansted Airport and 20 from Harwich.
Easter Park is the brainchild of the Easter Group, a specialist developer and owner of business parks and industrial estates across England and Wales. In recent years, Easter has carved out a reputation as a builder of some of the highest quality and most environmentally responsible developments in the market, scooping the Green Development Award 2007 from the Office Agents Society. Easter Park, Colchester has a ‘Very Good’ BREEAM (Environmental Assesment) rating and other current development projects include Rainham, Horndon, Kidderminster, Aldermaston (Berkshire) as well as the flagship office and technology park at Butterfield, Luton.
So, what’s on offer at Easter Park? Well, at present, the opportunities are only just beginning. The units that you can see on the site today form the first of three stages of development. The Phase 1 buildings offer sizes that cater for a significant proportion of the market, with five independent, detached units at the larger end of the scale.
The units benefit from extremely high eaves heights, making them perfect for any company looking to store goods or, potentially, increase their floor space cost-effectively with a mezzanine floor. The majority of buildings have fully fitted offices with suspended ceilings, impressive full-height atriums, passenger lifts, and secure glass double-glazed windows. The buildings also benefit from full B1 (light industrial), B2 (general industrial) and B8 (warehouse and distribution) planning consent, with potential for some trade retail/showroom facilities as well. Buildings are available immediately on a freehold or a leasehold basis.
Whichever path you choose, you benefit from excellent parking facilities in large yards and dedicated security services that include CCTV monitoring with numberplate recognition technology. The standard of landscaping round the estate is excellent, and the structure of buildings is covered by ten-year warranties, providing certainty and peace of mind to purchasers and tenants alike.
Upon completion of the site Lubina Bathrooms Ltd quickly snapped up the lease on the 21,000 ft2 Unit 1, and Audio Visual Sound & Light Ltd acquired the freehold of Unit 8. In fact, Audio Visual liked what they found so much that it has now entered into a lease on the adjacent Unit 7, with an option to purchase the freehold in the future. Units 3 (18,300 sq ft) and 9 (15,680 sq ft) are both under offer, and interest in the other units is increasing sharply as we begin to pull out of this recession.
Easter’s development director Colin Brown comments that “during the economic downturn all landlords have had to really focus on providing value and cost effective solutions to tenants. We have been able to do that whilst also offering excellent quality and the opportunity to substantially enhance our tenants’ corporate identities and brands. We have done some very attractive deals on the estate and can be creative and competitive, providing a package of terms to suit most budgets.”
With 60 per cent of the Phase 1 development now let, sold or under offer, any companies looking for good quality and affordable accommodation will want to register interest sooner rather than later. However, there may be other opportunities for those who miss out, with further development planned for phases 2 and 3 at Easter Park. Phase 2 will consist of an adjacent estate of small start-up/enterprise units called eStart. With premises ranging in size from 1,250 to 2,500 square feet, eStart will extend the benefits of location, transport links and modern facilities to start-up and growing businesses, providing them with an environment in which they can thrive. The vision is for easy-in/easy-out, shorterterm leases that can accommodate businesses through their growth stages, without tying up too much capital in rent deposits and fit-out costs.
The third stage of development at Easter Park is aimed at businesses with bespoke and specialised requirements. Easter has an excellent reputation for working alongside occupiers to design and build units that will give them optimum operational efficiency and everything they might desire in their business premises. Requirements of 10,000-70,000 sq ft can be accommodated in Phase 3 land and Colin Brown is keen to point out that acquiring a bespoke unit is not as costly as many people might think. He stresses that “the efficiencies in designing a building that suits your business needs exactly can often save so much money in both fit-out and operation costs that it becomes a more economically viable option. We have worked with a range of companies, from independent operators to major international Plc’s on similar projects across the country, and hope to do the same in Colchester.”
Easter Park is developing into a major asset for Colchester business, and for our wider community. The potential for job and business generation is huge, and the location of the estate and its excellent transport links (particularly once the new A12 junction is completed) should alleviate the strains placed on our already-congested town centre traffic system by HGVs and commercial traffic.
The only downside is that there are so few opportunities like this in our area, and that it’s taken so long for a company with the right vision to provide a development that meets the needs of the local, regional and national business community in such impressive fashion.
If you would like to learn more about Easter Park, including exact building specifications, please contact one of the three appointed agents below.
Newman Commercial Property Consultants:
01206 85 45 45 www.newmancommercial.co.uk
Jeremy Newman & Michael Moody
Whybrow Chartered Surveyors & Property
Consultants: 01206 577 677 www.whybrow.net
Ewan Dodds & Christopher Ware
M3: 020 7935 3969 www.m3agency.co.uk
Charlie Howard & Edward Staveley