Argos agrees deal at Island Road Reading

PLP and funding partner, Rockspring Property Investment Managers, have successfully secured a letting to Argos for the 73,000 sq ft unit at the recently completed speculative development – Island Road Reading.

Argos, the British catalogue retailer, has taken the unit on a 10-year lease. Located at one of the region’s prime distribution locations, the building benefits from being in a prominent position fronting the A33 and comprises of 61,535 sq ft of warehousing space, with 11,194 sq ft of offices.

TEP V acquired the Island Road site in 2014 and PLP speculatively developed it as part of a wider strategy focusing on the development of city fringe logistics facilities in the UK and continental Europe.

Fronting the A33 and located immediately to the south of Reading town centre, the scheme was completed in May 2017.

Following the lease with Argos, units A (127,000 sq ft) and C (56,000 sq ft) now remain available for lease.

Mark Krol at Rockspring said: “The development of urban logistics facilities across Europe has been a key component of our investment strategy since the global financial crisis and to that end, we are delighted to have secured such a high calibre occupier in Argos, and on attractive terms.

“With strong interest being shown in the remaining units, we hope to announce further lettings in the very near future.”

Jeremy Greenland at PLP added: “The deal justifies our decision to speculatively construct the units and demonstrates the demand for strategically located industrial and urban logistics developments in the region.”