Tritax buys former Dartford power station site for £65m

Real estate investment trust Tritax Big Box said on Monday that it had bought the freehold of the former Littlebrook Power Station site at Dartford, London for £65m.

The power station was decommissioned in 2015 and sits on 124 acres within the M25 motorway and adjacent to the Dartford Thames River Crossing “providing the opportunity for the efficient distribution of goods across London and the home counties”, Tritax said.

The site will be developed in phases, with site preparation costs estimated at around £25m. The construction of new buildings starting in autumn 2018 will commence on a pre-let basis and the company will retain the developed investment properties to further enhance its existing investment portfolio, Tritax said.

“The entire site is capable of supporting the potential development of approximately 1.7m sq ft of logistics distribution buildings, including several Big Box logistics facilities of over 400,000 sq ft, together with some smaller urban logistics facilities,” the company said in a statement.

It added that it intends to apply for planning consent for the remaining land in partnership with specialist logistics developers Bericote Properties.