Developer acquires four brownfield sites in new strategic focus
- What Newlands Developments has acquired four sites totalling 42
acres, with a combined end value of £214m - Why Developer plans to push into mid-box development
- What next It continues to search for new sites
Newlands Developments has purchased four brownfield sites with a gross development value of £214m as the developer pushes into mid-box development, Green Street News can reveal.
The logistics developer is best known for big-box developments, but with the latest site purchases, it is targeting smaller-sized units.
It is understood to have compiled an 800,000 sq ft mid-box development pipeline having acquired four sites in Aylesbury, Northampton, Rugby and Erith in south-east London. The acquisitions total around 42 acres.
An agency source said: “These developments are in key logistics locations, and we believe will total approximately 25 mid-box units across the schemes. We understand that all the developments are due for completion in 2027 and that they are considering a number of other developments of similar size and scale.”
With the new acquisitions, the developer is thought to targeting a market in which development has been more limited in recent years.
The latest data indicates that demand for logistics remains robust. Research from Cushman & Wakefield shared exclusively with Green Street News this week showed that first-quarter logistics take-up was up quarter on quarter and year on year, with 8.4m sq ft of space leased.
One of Newland’s big box schemes in Thrapston, Northamptonshire
Newlands is thought to be working with long-term strategic funding partners to build out the schemes.
The developer was founded in November 2018 by the former senior management team of Roxhill Developments.
It is a joint venture between the Newlands management team and Forum Partners, which was one of the original investors in Roxhill. In 2024 Forum acquired the remaining interest in the development platform from Equites Property Group.
