Aberdeen Standard Investments’ AIPUT fund (Airport Industrial Property Unit Trust) has won a grant for planning permission for Black Arrow, a warehouse development at its Blackthorne Point industrial estate in Poyle
Planning permission has been granted by Slough Borough Council’s Planning Committee, the high-spec, 27,760 sq ft GIA industrial warehouse will occupy a vacant brownfield site, immediately across the M25 from Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
Black Arrow will be a flexible industrial warehouse unit supporting B1c, B2 and B8 uses, similar in proportion to an existing planning consent granted in 2017.
The Black Arrow development plan
The building will incorporate a number of new environmental initiatives, including air source heat pumps and photovoltaic panels, delivering a 30% reduction in CO₂ emissions over building regulation requirements and the achievement of a BREEAM ‘very good’ rating. AIPUT’s Carbon Strategy requires the fund to achieve carbon neutrality across its portfolio by 2025.
The scheme has been designed to bring a number of benefits to the wider Poyle Trading Estate, including enhanced access to the estate through widening part of Blackthorne Road to enable two lorries to pass easily, as well as improving pedestrian safety by widening the footpath to 2m.
AIPUT hopes that the Black Arrow facility will be ready for tenant occupation by October 2020.
The Black Arrow development follows swiftly on the heels of several key letting announcements by AIPUT at Blackthorne Point during 2019, following the refurbishment of several existing units.
The delivery of additional high-quality warehousing strongly positions Blackthorne Point (and the wider Poyle Trading Estate location) to benefit significantly from the expected future expansion of Heathrow Airport and the growth of its air cargo service, which the airport’s owners project to reach at least 3 million tonnes per year by 2040.
Fraser Green, portfolio manager for AIPUT, said: “This welcome new addition to our Blackthorne Point estate delivers on AIPUT’s long-term vision to facilitate the continuing growth of our high-quality air cargo portfolio at key locations serving Heathrow.
“Black Arrow will set a new quality benchmark for airport-related industrial warehousing at Poyle, delivering cutting-edge environmental performance.”
