Commercial Property Development

Providing warehouse and office buildings for industry and commerce

Jaguar Coup for Stoford Developments

More than 1,500 new jobs are to be created in Coventry following the acquisition of Jaguar’s former Browns Lane car plant by property partners Macquarie Goodman and Stoford Developments.

Australian property giant Macquarie Goodman, which currently controls in excess of30 office and logistics developments throughout the UK including Birmingham Business Park at Solihull, has bought 100 acres of the 117-acre site from Jaguar’s parent company Ford for an undisclosed sum.

The venture is aiming to turn the site into a fully landscaped office and warehousing park with high-quality units of up to 1.2 million sq ft, with building work likely to begin in early 2008.

The purchase of Browns Lane, which was home to Jaguar car production from 1951 until 2005 and boasted a workforce of 3,500 in its heyday, will create over 1,500 new jobs, according to Stoford.

Jaguar will retain a presence in the form of its wood veneering facility, which covers the remaining 17 acres of the site and employs around 400 people.

Bruce Usher, Development Director of Macquarie Goodman’s UK Logistics business said: “Our business is about investing in and creating high quality environments where businesses can thrive and we are delighted to be redeveloping Browns Lane together with Stoford Developments.

“The new development will create new jobs and provide a welcome economic boost to the local community. We are also very much looking forward to working with Coventry City Council again having worked very closely with it in past with the development of Coventry Business Park.”

Dan Gallagher, Stoford Director, said: “We are delighted to be able to make such a major contribution to the regeneration of the West Midlands and to strengthen our office and warehousing portfolio with what will be our biggest-ever development.”

He added: “With a superb location at the hub of the UK’s motorway network, the former Jaguar factory site is sure to appeal to a wide range of national and regional organisations that require new headquarters or major distribution centres.”

Stoford has been responsible for more than £250 million worth of development projects covering 1.5 million sq ft throughout the Midlands, including most recently Spa Park in Leamington Spa, Stonebridge Cross Business Park in Droitwich and Vale Park West in Evesham.

Pictured Right: Dan Gallagher & Chris Lea with the Big Cat.