PATRIZIA has welcomed the Government decision to allow a 700,000 sq ft data centre to be built at Iver.
PATRIZIA’s Hanover Property Unit Trust (PUT) had its plans to redevelop its Court Lane Industrial Estate for the scheme refused by Buckinghamshire Council but won on appeal.
However, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner stepped in to recover the decision – and agreed it should be allowed.
The proposals for the site involve the development of a 700,000 sq ft 140MW data centre, as well as the full refurbishment of the Grade II listed Iver Court Farmhouse building.
PATRIZIA says Court Lane is a rare example of a site fulfilling all the requirements to build and operate a successful data centre, given its location within the Slough-Hayes data centre ‘golden corridor’ and its proximity to many fibre networks.
It has agreed the conditional sale of the site to clients of Affinius Capital and it is now expected that the project will be developed by Corscale.
Simon West, fund manager for PATRIZIA Hanover PUT, said: “We welcome the decision by the Secretary of State to approve plans for a high-tech data centre on the Court Lane industrial site.
“Our asset management strategy for the site has focused on maximising its potential and, after securing an agreement with the National Grid, it is ideally suited for an industry-leading data centre, providing vital infrastructure for the continued growth of the UK economy.”
As part of PATRIZIA’s investment strategy, ‘RE-Infra’ assets (those, like data centres, which combine real estate and infrastructure) have been identified for growth.
Phoebe Smith, PATRIZIA head of fund management RE-Infra, said: “We are excited to see another proof point of PATRIZIA’s RE-Infra strategy, with the exciting progress on this real estate investment, benefitting from a repositioning to develop infrastructure assets on its site.
“We continue to see further examples of this convergence of real estate and infrastructure, and it is fantastic news to see the Hanover team deliver such an outcome to their investors, while also delivering benefit of more much-needed data centre capacity in the UK.”
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