Capital & Centric Builds for Offshore Wind Industry

Capital & Centric is under construction with 20,599 sq ft (1,914sq m) of office and warehouse accommodation, including laboratory, research and development space.

The accommodation, known as Lightbox, located on Abbey Street in Birkenhead, is targeted towards small to medium sized enterprises within the Offshore Wind Sector. The 1.5 acre (0.6 hectare) site, which Capital & Centric purchased from Wirral Council in December 2014, will be a hub to support the offshore wind farm sector.

Regional Grant Funding has supported the scheme with £900,000 of gap funding.

Capital & Centric’s Michelle Rothwell commented: “We have had really good demand from the sector and are predicting the units to be fully let within the first six months. The site is located adjacent to the banks of the River Mersey where one of the UK’s largest windfarms has been given the green light and as such there is a real buzz around the scheme.”

A special quirk to the ‘Lightbox’ design is the transparent roof panels which means that no internal lighting will be required during the day as it allows daylight to shine through creating huge savings for tenants, and then in the evening if lights are switched on the scheme lights up creating a tremendous visual effect.

Sean Seery, Partner at Smith and Sons said: “This is fairly unique commercial development for Wirral. It has been designed in such a way to offer flexible floor space.

“The location is excellent for those operating in this sector, and is only a few miles away from the vast Burbo Bank Extension, placing any new tenant at the heart of a rapidly developing industry here in Merseyside.”