Verdion and Legal & General's Industrial Property Investment Fund (IPIF) have been granted planning permission for a £30 million urban logistics scheme in the West Thamesmead Opportunity Area, part of the London Borough of Greenwich.
The project, to be called LiteHub Greenwich, will be developed speculatively as a multi-let industrial park offering 78,986 sq ft of new floorspace across six small to mid-box units. Individual units will range from 5,555 sq ft to 16,000 sq ft, with the park scheduled to be ready for occupation from the fourth quarter of 2027.
Environmental targets built into the specification
The plans set out a series of performance and sustainability commitments for the scheme, which the partners describe as pursuing a whole-life carbon approach:
- BREEAM 'Excellent' and EPC 'A+' ratings targeted for the units
- High energy performance and resilience measures
- Biodiversity-positive measures across the site
- Supply chain and site-level social safeguards
These are stated targets for the development rather than certified outcomes, since construction has yet to begin.
Brownfield plot close to road links
The 2.6-acre site is brownfield land within an established industrial area on Nathan Way. It sits about 5 miles east of the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels and 9 miles from the M25, and is close to Lombard Square, the 1,900-home development being brought forward by Berkeley Homes and Peabody.
Verdion will deliver the scheme on behalf of L&G, which will own the completed asset.
First asset for a UK urban logistics platform
John Clements, executive director of Verdion and head of its UK activity, said the Greenwich location offered considerable scope for value creation, citing the volume of new housing planned nearby alongside constrained industrial and logistics supply. He said the site would allow the developer to create a modern, multi-let park for occupiers looking for space close to the City and the M25, and that LiteHub Greenwich would become the first asset in Verdion's UK-wide urban logistics platform, which will target brownfield redevelopment underpinned by strong ESG credentials near major population centres.
The value-creation case is therefore presented by the developer and rests on two conditions: that residential growth in the surrounding area continues, and that industrial and logistics supply in the vicinity stays tight. Delivery of the park will not be complete until late 2027, so occupier demand for the units remains untested.