Panattoni snaps up 100-acre Kent site

Logistics Manager understands that acquisitive developer Panattoni has snapped up the 100-acre former Aylesford Newsprint site in Kent for £75 million from the receivers.

The site could accommodate up to 1.6 million sq ft of logistics space.

The 100-acre plot between the M20 and the River Medway has been derelict since Aylesford Newsprint went into administration in 2015 and the site was knocked down in 2016.

Plans had been put forward for a residential and office scheme in 2018 but following a council report stating that ‘there was no justification’ for the loss of employment land the speculative proposals were withdrawn.

All parties were unavailable to comment.

Earlier this year Panattoni, beat off stiff competition to acquire a prime 30 acre site in Slough for the development of an industrial led scheme.

The developer has bought the former ICI paintworks site in Wexham Road from AkzoNobel for an undisclosed sum.

The site is located two miles east of the Slough Trading Estate within minutes of the M4 and M25, giving fast access to both Central London and Heathrow.

Matthew Byrom, UK MD at Panattoni’s , said: “To bring forward a site of this nature takes experienced and committed counterparties to reach an agreement.

“The market fundamentals of our sector and the region mean we have a continued appetite for further development opportunities in the UK and we look forward to making a number of further announcements shortly.”