Keyland Developments forms project team on 53 acre Wakefield East site

Kelda Group’s property trading arm and sister-company to Yorkshire Water, Keyland Developments Ltd, has assembled a project team to develop the planning application for a new employment scheme on its 53 acre Wakefield East site.

The proposals may feature around 700,000 sq ft of employment space and create approximately 1400 new jobs.

Keyland’s site forms the primary employment element of the 375 acre City Fields development. The new £33m relief road around Wakefield, which commenced last month, will also run through the site and is set to complete in early 2017.

Located to the East of Wakefield town centre, the City Fields development aims to provide around 2,500 houses, a primary school, health facilities, district and neighbourhood centres and employment space.

Miller Homes is about to begin work on site with the first phase of 500 homes and the majority of the employment space will be within Keyland’s extensive site.

Keyland has instructed the Leeds offices of Bilfinger GVA and Knight Frank as scheme agents to work as part of its professional team in preparing a planning application for the 53 acre site which is likely to incorporate some 700,000 sq ft of employment space.

The proposals will be submitted in late 2015 with a view to the site being development-ready with planning in place when work on the relief road is complete.

Peter Garrett, managing director of Keyland Developments Ltd, said: “The vision for the whole City Fields area has been collaboratively developed over a long period of time and now that work has commenced on the road, we can start to fully progress the plans for our 53 acre employment element. With direct access to the WERR, the site is one of the most strategically placed within the region and we are currently working with our team on the masterplan to ensure that the application reflects the requirements of the local marketplace.”

Iain McPhail, associate director at Bilfinger GVA, added: “There is a well-documented shortage of new employment space within West Yorkshire and Keyland’s site has the capacity to deliver some 700,000 sq ft of accommodation with prime frontage on to what will be one of the region’s main arterial routes.”

Nick Prescott, associate at Knight Frank, also commented: “We are delighted to be working as part of the team to assist the development of a well-considered application which maximises the potential of this significant site. Our proposals facilitate increased levels of occupier demand from the local business community and complement the broader regeneration plans for the area.”

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