Panattoni acquires third site in Kent taking its investment in region to over £350m

A site in Kent has been earmarked for a state-of-the-art, net zero carbon development following a £150 million investment by logistics real estate giant Panattoni.

The company has acquired the development in Swale, which will be called Panattoni Park Sittingbourne. It sits just four miles from Junction 5 of the M2.

READ MORE: New jobs in Kent as Panattoni Park welcomes three leading businesses

It is Panattoni's third acquisition in Kent, taking its investment in the region to over £350 million in the last 12 months.

It follows on from the recent 1.6 million sq ft Panattoni Park Aylesford, which was 100% pre-let to major national and international occupiers in less than 24 months from acquisition.
Panattoni has also acquired an 8-acre site in Wrotham, near Sevenoaks on land between the M25, M26 and M20.

The development at Panattoni Park Sittingbourne was acquired from Abrdn, the UK-based global investment company and the site has planning consent for two units, spanning 439,228 sq ft and 205,320 sq ft respectively, which will be speculatively developed.

The site has 5 Mega Volt Amperes (MVA) of power available with a further capacity of additional 1.35MVA from the solar PV provided as part of Panattoni’s specification for the buildings.

It has been engineered to target a BREEAM sustainability rating of ‘Excellent’ and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of 'A'.

"This third Kent acquisition exemplifies our dedication to a forward-thinking sustainable development plan in locations that offer direct access to the London market, facilitating robust rental growth," said Tony Watkins, head of development for the South East and London at Panattoni.

"Panattoni will bring forward the development in the coming months, ready for practical completion next year, aiming to plug the gap in the lack of large logistics and distribution facilities.

"We will continue to selectively purchase key developments that offer value-added opportunities within core markets in London and the South East, where we can drive rental growth."

The latest announcement also follows Panattoni’s acquisition of a site near Heathrow Airport, where an 80,000 sq ft unit will be delivered for Q3, 2024 to be called Panattoni Poyle.

The start of the third quarter also saw the acquisition of a site to deliver 800,000 sq ft in Milton Keynes, where Panattoni will construct two speculative units of 350,000 sq ft and 450,000 sq ft.

Panattoni said it has also recently secured planning consent for a 200,000 sq ft logistics development in Crawley.

Panattoni’s other strategic acquisitions in the South East in the last six months have included a 12 acre site at Brighton City airport and 50 acres in Milton Keynes.

Panattoni was advised on the Sittingbourne acquisition by JLL and Abrdn was advised by Avison Young and Savills.

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