Tritax Big Box Reit Plc (LON:BBOX) has announced that the six-week judicial review relating to its Manor Farm data centre development has concluded successfully. The company can now progress the development of a 107MW facility on its 74-acre site in the Slough Availability Zone, one of Europe’s most strategically important and supply-constrained data centre markets. Planning consent represents a significant value creation event, enhancing the site’s development potential and establishing a clear path to delivery.
BBOX has secured an accelerated pathway to power delivery, a critical differentiator in a market where access to power remains one of the principal constraints on new data centre development. This provides greater certainty over delivery timelines and enhances the opportunity to bring capacity to market ahead of competing schemes.
Following a competitive marketing process, demonstrating strong occupier demand for strategically located, powered data centre capacity in the Slough Availability Zone, a pre-let agreement for this scheme is now in solicitors’ hands.
Once operational, the facility is expected to achieve a 9.3% yield on cost, demonstrating the value creation potential of the Company’s innovative “power-first” approach to data centre delivery. While rental income is expected to commence following practical completion, planning consent is a key de-risking step and, together with securing the power delivery and pre-letting, is expected to drive the recognition of attractive capital profit through the early stages of the development phase.
Colin Godfrey, Chief Executive Officer of Tritax Big Box REIT plc, said:
“Achieving planning consent at Manor Farm represents a significant value creation milestone for shareholders and is the first major demonstration of our data centre value creation strategy. By progressing a 107MW scheme in one of Europe’s most supply-constrained data centre markets, we have materially enhanced the value of the site while de-risking the route to development.
“We have also secured an accelerated route to power delivery, creating a highly differentiated opportunity to bring critical digital infrastructure to market faster and with greater certainty. This combination of planning success, speed to market and execution capability underpins our confidence in delivering exceptional risk-adjusted returns for shareholders and supports our medium-term earnings growth ambition.”
