Goodman sign up ING Car Leasing at Leeds Valley Business Park
11 December 2008
Goodman, the international property group which owns, develops and manages Leeds Valley Park, has secured one of this year's biggest out of town office agreements in the Leeds market which will see ING Car Lease moving to Leeds Valley Park.
ING Car Lease - one of Europe's largest vehicle leasing and fleet management companies - has signed a15-year lease agreement for 16,400 sq ft of Grade A office space at a cost of £18.00 per sq ft. The agreement has been signed on behalf of Arlington Business Parks Partnership fund (ABPP), which is managed by Goodman.
ING will occupy the entire top floor of the Darwin building, which is the second phase at Leeds Valley Park to be speculatively developed. They will join other top multinational businesses including BAE Systems, Arla Foods and Ventura.
Located three miles south of Leeds City Centre, Leeds Valley Park is one of Yorkshire's leading out of town office parks. The 50-acre office park boasts amenities including a Costa Coffee shop, a licensed café and Amigo's newsagent.
James Raven, Goodman's Development Director, UK Business Parks commented: "We are delighted to welcome ING Car Lease to Leeds Valley Park. Their choice to relocate to the Darwin building is testament to the investment we have recently made with both this and the Ellington building allowing us to offer complete flexibility for occupiers. It also reflects the quality of the environment, the accessibility and the amenities on offer."
Ian Tilbrook, Managing Director, ING Car Lease said, "Finding the right office location for our business has been a challenge. We had a number of criteria we wanted to meet, two of the key ones being to find a new location within a reasonable distance from our current office and to provide our staff with a quality working environment. Both these criteria will be met by our impending move to the Darwin building"
Goodman has also recently undertaken work to facilitate floor-by-floor lettings and offer customers more flexible options at the Darwin and Ellington buildings.
Jeff Pearey of joint letting agents Jones Lang LaSalle said, "This letting to ING Car Lease is one of the most important out of town office lettings in Leeds this year and comes at a time when we are experiencing a welcome surge in interest in office parks across the Yorkshire region. We are confident that the quality of space on offer and the availability of parking and transport connectivity will ensure further leasing success at Leeds Valley Park in 2009."
Goodman has a track record of creating high quality mixed-use environments such as Hatfield Business Park, Gloucester Business Park and Oxford Business Park. The company has delivered headquarter developments for customers including Cadbury Schweppes, GMAC, T-Mobile, Oxfam and NATS. In October, Goodman scooped two awards at Property
Week's 2008 Office Development Awards, winning the "Best overall development outside central London" and "Best bespoke development outside central London" categories.
ENDS
About Arlington Business Parks Partnership
The ABPP is a UK business park fund created in 2003 by Arlington Securities Limited and investment partner Legal and General. Goodman and L&G manage the fund. ABPP owns a unique portfolio of high quality business parks in a managed environment spread across the UK.
About Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)
Goodman Group is an integrated property group with operations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Goodman Group, comprised of the stapled entities Goodman Limited and Goodman Industrial Trust, is the largest industrial property group listed on Australian Stock Exchange and one of the largest listed industrial property groups globally.
Goodman's integrated own-develop-manage customer service philosophy ensures its customers receive an end-to-end solution to their property requirements. With more than 1,200 staff and 37 offices in 18 countries, Goodman has the global reach to meet customers' needs as their businesses expand or evolve. In Europe, Goodman has offices in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey.
Please visit: www.goodman.com
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