In partnership with Homes England, St Helens Council and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, the developer has now completed the £7m first phase of a wider scheme. Tony McDonough reports

Four new industrial units totalling 90,000 sq ft of space have been completed in St Helens in a £7m development.

The units at Mere Grange are the first phase of a mixed-used development being delivered by Network Space in partnership with Homes England, St Helens Council and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Now ready for occupation, the units range in size between 18,500 sq ft and 26,350 sq ft.  Each is self-contained and includes office accommodation, car parking and segregated yards designed to appeal to the needs of a wide range of logistics and industrial users.

Mere Grange, which is being built by Caddick Construction, sits adjacent to the St Helens Linkway and is within a five-minute drive of Junction 7 of the M62 and is within close reach of St Helens town centre.

Network Space also secured outline planning permission for the development of up to 120 residential units on the western side of Mere Grange, with a sale expected later in the year.

Stephen Barnes, managing director (development) at Network Space, said: “We have successfully forged a great partnership with Homes England, St Helens MBC and the Combined Authority to create an exciting proposition at Mere Grange.

“There remains a shortage of high-quality industrial space across the region and Mere Grange is excellently placed to capitalise. Our Agents B8 and CBRE are already in discussions with a number of occupiers and we expect quick take up of the new space.”

Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram added: “The first phase of Mere Grange reaching completion is an important milestone for a development which will contribute to the city region’s economic growth as well as creating hundreds of jobs.  I look forward to seeing the development continuing to progress.”

The second phase of Mere Grange is expected to complete in 2019.