Opus Land is a quadruple finalist for Insider’s West Midlands Awards

Opus Land is delighted to have received four shortlistings for Insider’s West Midlands Property Awards:

• Commercial Developer of the Year
• Commercial Development of the Year for the development of Cadent’s premises in Wolverhampton, funded by Fiera Real Estate
• Commercial Development of the Year for the development of Cadent’s premises at Prospero Ansty Park, in conjunction with Manse
• Construction Project of the Year for Cadent’s premises at Prospero Ansty Park, courtesy of McLaren Construction Group

Opus Land is an established and highly active property developer based in the Midlands. The past year has seen the business making great progress on various new schemes, with a large focus on the logistics and office sectors.

Key Firm highlights include:
• Current industrial/logistics pipeline has a combined GDV of £490 million and 2.75 million ft.
• 100% of recent projects have achieved a minimum BREEAM rating of Very Good, with some achieving Excellent
• 100% of the year’s assets have targeted/achieved EPC A
• 100% planning success on all recent projects

Over the past year, Opus Land has achieved planning for, and started the construction of, three new industrial and logistics schemes in Ansty, Wolverhampton and Bristol, as well as completing the development of 90,000+ sq ft of Grade A office space.

One of the most prominent deals the business undertook in the past year is at Prospero Ansty Park. In partnership with Manse LLP, Opus Land secured planning for a new, state-of-the-art office development on behalf of Cadent Gas.

As various leases expired at a number of Cadent’s sites in Coventry and Leicester, Cadent approached Manse Opus to create a bespoke premises at The Park. Manse Opus worked with Cadent to create a modern and flexible working environment to help improve collaboration across the teams.

The development, which was funded by Aviva Investors, completed in March 2022 and the Cadent team started its phased moves into the 94,000 sq.ft premises shortly afterwards.

This deal is one of the UK’s largest out-of-town lettings and was designed with sustainability at heart. The scheme has been awarded a BREEAM Very Good rating and will fulfil Cadent’s aspirations to reduce their carbon emissions. The design included significant provision of photovoltaic panels on the roof and incorporated in to the brise soleil, rainwater harvesting, optimisation of natural light via a light well, EV charging points, extensive landscaping and sustainable drainage systems.

After a successful partnership with Cadent in Ansty, Opus Land teamed up with them for a second time, alongside Fiera Real Estate UK.

In April 2021, Fiera Real Estate UK and Opus Land acquired a 2.95-acre site in Wolverhampton with plans to construct an ESG-exemplar, Grade A office and warehouse building. The pre-let forward funding was purchased by Fiera Real Estate’s Long Income Fund, FRELIF, and reached practical completion in less than a year.

The scheme was been designed with sustainability in mind, with roof-mounted solar panels, EV charging points and rainwater harvesting provision to ensure the efficient running of the building.
Opus Land secured planning permission in April 2021 for the two-storey building which houses 171 workstations together with meeting rooms and welfare facilities for hundreds of employees and contractors. The office specification includes raised floors, suspended ceilings, VRF heating and cooling systems and LED lighting.

The scheme reached Practical Completion in May 2022 and is one of the most significant regional HQ facilities in the local area, located in a prominent position on Planetary Road, approximately 1.5miles away from Wolverhampton city centre and conveniently placed within a 30-minute drive to Birmingham city centre.

It’s clear that the Opus team has had an exceptionally busy year, and look forward to celebrating their shortlistings later this year.