27-acre industrial site sold in £18m deal

A HUGE industrial site in Cardiff has a new owner following an £18m deal.

Expanding property development firm Garrison Barclay Estates has acquired the 27-acre GE Healthcare site in Whitchurch.

The deal sees GE consolidating operations to about half of the site.

That leaves about 14 acres, covering 90,000sq ft of vacant buildings, which Garrison Barclay Estates will now bring to market.

Cardiff council has identified the site as a potential new science park for the city, with the location benefiting from its close proximity to the M4 at Coryton.

Andrew Gibson of the Cardiff office of property advisory firm Cushman & Wakefield acted for GE Healthcare on the deal.

Garrison Barclay Estates has also confirmed it has signed up a four-star hotel for its Chartist Tower redevelopment scheme in the centre of Newport.

After discussions with a number of leading players in the hotel sector, its including the Celtic Manor Resort, its has struck a deal with Mercure Hotel for a 163-bedroom hotel at its Chartist Tower building in the centre of the city.

The Mercure hotel will be operated by Redefine BDL under a 10-year franchise arrangement.

Garrison Barclay Estates acquired the 15-storey vacant 1960s-built building last year. And it has now lodged a planning application with Newport Council to transform Chartist Tower in an £12m investment.

The commercial real estate arm of Coutts has provided funding for the project.

As well as a four-star hotel across 11 floors, an asset that will remain in the ownership of Garrison Barclay Estates, the project also includes:

30,000sq ft of office space, which would bring much needed new grade A office space into the centre of Newport;

18,000sq ft of retail space on the ground floor; and

A top floor restaurant affording spectacular views across the city and the Severn Estuary to the English coast.