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A real estate developer has announced plans for a huge logistics complex in Yorkshire.

Warwick-based Panattoni says it will develop a 630,000 sq ft speculative facility, along with a smaller 85,000 sq ft building, next to junction 1 of the M18 at Rotherham on a 40-acre site which the company recently acquired from Stretton Denman.

Panattoni is aiming to submit a reserved matters planning application in the next few weeks, and hopes to begin construction early next year.

The Interchange Park development follows other speculative developments by Panattoni around the North and the Midlands, which comes in response to what it described as ‘strong demand from occupiers for immediately available space’. The development would bring the company’s current speculative development programme to around 4.2m sq ft.

Dan Burn, development director for the North West and Yorkshire at Panattoni, said: “Our continued appetite for speculative development reflects the strength of demand from occupiers for immediately available space.

“In the first quarter of this year half of all take-up in the logistics sector was of speculative developments, driven by demand from e-commerce companies. And in the last 12 months alone, we have let more than 6 million sq ft of space.

“Having let our speculative Wakefield 515 development in May, we are delighted to have acquired this strategic site and look forward to bringing this nationally significant scheme forward over the coming months.”

The announcement from Panattoni comes at a time of growing demand for warehousing and logistics buildings due to the growth of online shopping in the pandemic.

Earlier this week Rotherham firm Harworth Group announced it had secured planning approval for the development of up to 1.1m sq ft of logistics and manufacturing space at its site in Wingates, Bolton, with the potential to create up to 1,500 new jobs.

Harworth is also developing land at Barnsley, Rotherham and Leicestershire and says it ‘medium-term development intentions for up to 1.8m sq ft of industrial and logistics space’, which it intends to progress through the planning system over the coming year.