Case Study: Land and Buildings at Bromley Road, Congleton

Roger Hannah & Co identified a potential acquisition of land and buildings at Bromley Road, Congleton, being manufacturing premises of some 81,000 sq ft on 4.65 acres of land.

We introduced the acquisition opportunity to a North West property investor who proceeded to acquire the property for just under £970,000.

The property itself had around 30,000 - 40,000 sq ft of reasonable industrial accommodation. It also had the potential of being a suitable site for redevelopment with residential housing on two sides of the site.

On behalf of our client, Roger Hannah & Co engaged with the Local Planning Authority and it became apparent that whilst they supported the principle of residential redevelopment on the site, they were not yet willing to allocate the site for residential use and also they would require the site to be developed for a mixed use with a portion of industrial accommodation on the site.

Negotiations with the Local Authority took a considerable period of time and were spread over a 2/3 year period. During this time period, the buildings began to deteriorate and were subject to local vandalism. A few councillors help lobby the Local Planning Authority as to the importance of resolving the long term future of the land. Ultimately, this led to the Local Authority indicating that they would support the inclusion of the land for residential redevelopment in the Local Development Framework.

This however was likely to be 2/3 years away and, as such, a decision was taken that due to the buoyant nature of the property market, we should seek to market the land with the indication of the Local Authority's support for Local Development Framework allocation.

The site was marketed with the two highest bidders being from McInerny Homes and Woodford land. Both parties were placed into a contract race and following site investigations, Woodford Land acquired the site for a consideration of just over £4 million.

Roger Hannah & Co were involved in the whole process from acquisition through to sell.