OFFICE / RE-DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY IN PRIME MIXED USE LOCATION - ON SITE EXTENDING TO 9.92 ACRES (4.01 HA) APPROX
The Property is broadly triangular in shape, generally level, with a slight elevation above Bessemer Road and extends to circa 9.92 acres (4.01 Ha).
In the eastern section of the site lies the vacant Plus Building, a two-storey brick-clad office/commercial building constructed in the 1980s and comprising circa 80,000 sq ft of net lettable offices, together with lightweight ancillary accommodation (The Post Building) which currently performs the function of a postroom for Tesco.
The building has now been stripped out (see photos opposite) but retains the following elements:
The buildings may be returned to operational/occupiable condition as office premises, should a purchaser require. No warranties will be available and a purchaser should make their own investigations.
The Plus Building has an EPC rating of C(54) whilst the Post Building has an EPC rating of A(25).
The Property is located in the main commercial district of Welwyn Garden City, within the Borough of Welwyn and Hatfield. Welwyn Garden City is located in the county of Hertfordshire, circa 20 miles due north of Central London and was one of the earliest New Towns established in the 1950s on the periphery of London.
The Property is accessed via both The Boulevard and Kestrel Way, each of which in turn are accessed from Bessemer Road, one of the principal roadways through Welwyn.
Welwyn Garden City Centre is located circa 1 mile from the subject premises and is home to John Lewis, Waitrose, and a number of independent and regional retail occupiers.
Existing uses surrounding the Property are mixed. Shire Park itself is primarily composed of office premises, with key occupiers including Tesco Stores Ltd (global HQ), Roche Pharmaceuticals, Towers Willis Watson, Regus, Morgan Sindall, and PayPoint.
East of the property across Bessemer Road lies the recently completed 110 home Willow Place residential development by Crest Nicholson comprising of houses and apartments. West of Shire Park, the former Xerox commercial buildings known as Empire House were converted to residential apartments in recent years.
To the west of the property lies the Heart Building, the newest constructed building on Shire Park, which is owned and part-occupied by Tesco, which also provides a Tesco convenience store open to the public.
The Freehold absolute in the Property is held under part of Land Registry title number HD212398.
The site will be sold with the benefit of full vacant possession.
There is a small registered leasehold parcel under leasehold title HD240017 (shown marked blue on the title plan). This relates to a substation lease, understood to serve the existing Plus Building and Post Building, which runs to 2048.
Other rights affecting the Property are detailed in the data room.
Estate roads on Shire Park are managed and maintained by Shire Park Limited via a management company and estate charge under title number HD 451707.
Further information is available in the data room.
Further information available in the data room.
The property has a current valuation for Rating purposes of £1,350,000. However, the vendor has now stripped out the property which may benefit a purchaser by limiting the future liabilities.
The site is allocated for employment use under Policy SADM 10 in the Welwyn Hatfield Local Plan, adopted in October 2023. The site forms part of the c.131 ha ‘EA1’ designation known as Welwyn Garden City Employment Area, where proposals for new industrial, storage, office and research buildings or uses (currently Use Classes B and E(g) can take place, alongside ancillary retail elements.
The policy, together with Policy SP 8, also strictly protects the site from changing to other uses, in order to prevent the loss of employment space. Any proposals for another use(s) beyond industrial, storage, or office and research in the designated employment area must consider compatibility with neighbouring uses and the provision of facilities that are supportive of Class B or E(g), and demonstrate extensive marketing over a 3-year period.
The Local Plan further sets out that, as the Welwyn Garden City Employment Area which includes the site has been significantly affected by permitted changes from offices to residential uses, the Council will consider putting in place an improvement plan for the area. In this context, the Council have also put in place a number of confirmed Article 4 directions which cover the designated employment area and remove permitted development rights to a) demolish buildings in employment use and replace them with purpose-built flats or detached houses and b) convert offices to residential accommodation.
The allocation is identified on the adopted Policies Map, which shows the site’s location within the northern extent of the designated EA1 employment area, adjacent to the aforementioned 110-home residential development across Bessemer Road at Willow Place. There are no other allocations or designations of relevance to the site. The site is located within Flood Zone 1 with a low risk of flooding.
The original permission for the development of Shire Park for business (B1) use was granted in 1989 (ref. C6/1988/1115/ OP). Since then, the planning history of the site has largely been limited to minor applications relating to the existing office use and include alterations, installation of solar panels, and the variation of cladding. However, in 2017, full planning permission was granted on the northern 0.72 ha triangular part of the site (outlined in yellow) for the construction of a new four storey building comprising a 123-bedroom hotel, provision of an associated car park and landscaping (ref. 6/2017/0769/MAJ). This permission has been implemented, through the construction of vehicular access, but paused (i.e. the permission is extant) and the hotel has not been built out.
An initial transport appraisal has confirmed that access from Bessemer Road could be appropriate for any new development proposal in this location.
Further information will be available in the data room.
We understand the properties are elected for VAT purposes.
Formal offers and expressions of interest for the Freehold interest in the property are invited on a subject to planning or unconditional basis.
All offers and other communications are to be submitted via the Sole Selling agents BNP Paribas Real Estate Offers submitted should encompass the following information:
Interested parties wishing to view the site are asked to provide prior notification to Lambert Smith Hampton before viewing
Will Foster
Senior Director, Offices
will.foster@realestate.bnpparibas
07789 878007
Ben Wiley
Senior Director, Industrial and Logistics
ben.wiley@realestate.bnpparibas
07771 662009
Julian Gaynor
Senior Director, Strategic Development
julian.gaynor@realestate.bnpparibas
07825 904052
