Railway Works changes hands in £20 million deal

The former British Railway Locomotive Engineering works which was once the heart of Eastleigh, has been sold in a £20 million deal.

Key Property Investments (KPI), a joint venture between leading UK developer St. Modwen and Kuwait based Salhia Real Estate Company, has sold the works, currently a multi-let train maintenance facility, to the Corporate Pension Fund clients of Savills Investment Management LLP.

Eastleigh Works, located off Campbell Road, is a massive 47.4 acre site primarily used as a locomotive, carriage and wagon repair works and predominantly let to Arlington Fleet Services Ltd. The site comprises 506,317 sq ft of warehouse space, a three-storey office building and open storage areas.

Nick Kay, Development Director at St. Modwen said:

“Since acquiring the site in 2002, we have added significant value over the years, taking it from a vacant complex of redundant buildings to a fully occupied, well managed rail-orientated industrial estate. We will re-invest the sale proceeds to help deliver our commercial development pipeline as we rebalance our portfolio towards a high quality industrial/logistics sector.”

Lucy Winterburn, Director of Investment at Savills Investment Management, commented:

“The purchase of Eastleigh Works is a strategic industrial land acquisition for our client with a recognised heritage of rail manufacture and maintenance. We are delighted to have secured this opportunity and relish the medium term redevelopment opportunity that it presents.”