Abrdn’s AIPUT Fund 'Opens New Chapter' With Sustainable Radius Park Project
Abrdn’s Airport Industrial Property Unit Trust has submitted a planning application to redevelop a cornerstone property at its London Heathrow Radius Park campus.
It would be the first renovation project of significant scale to be financed under a £350M sustainability-linked credit facility secured with Wells Fargo Bank and signals the “opening of a new chapter” in the fund’s strategy to deliver low-carbon and high-energy-performing logistics warehouses, the company said.
Two adjacent warehouse units at AIPUT's Radius Park campus — to be marketed as RP6 — will be stripped back to their steel frames and reclad to create a single 67K SF Gross External Area warehouse.
The new warehouse building, subject to planning permission from the London Borough of Hounslow, will be developed speculatively, with a pre-let expected to be signed during the planning period. AIPUT supports a number of long-term customers at Radius Park, including Brinks, Aviation Servicing Co. and Gate Gourmet.
Abrdn's renovation project has been designed to achieve carbon neutrality, both in terms of embedded carbon and operational performance. The concrete floor slab and the majority of structural steelwork are being retained, and building materials will be locally sourced using maximised recycled and recyclable content, where possible, aiming for nil landfill waste.
Efficient and sustainable heating and cooling systems plus a full rooftop solar photovoltaic system will reduce occupier energy costs by at least 10% compared with the market standard, AIPUT said. The new building is expected to achieve a minimum of BREEAM Excellent.
AIPUT’s principal advisers on the planning application are PRC Planning and Northland.
“As a market leader in critical airport logistics supply chain infrastructure, it is both essential and always motivating, to keep pushing the responsible investment envelope to benefit a wide range of stakeholders," AIPUT Fund Manager Nick Smith said in a statement. "The Radius Park project will deliver a key milestone on our strategic Pathway to Net Zero."
Established 18 years ago, the AIPUT fund has an expected lifetime of another 13 years, or until 2036. It manages a portfolio of customised warehousing, logistics space and services, with £691M in assets under management.
In total, 2.3M SF of assets are located at West London/Heathrow, making AIPUT one of the largest landlords in the area, with assets at four of London’s airports: Heathrow (89%), Gatwick (6%), Luton (4%) and Stansted (1%).
