Property investor acquires huge Prinovis printing plant in south Liverpool which closed in 2023 with the loss of 250 jobs and may convert it into a 1m sq ft logistics hub. Tony McDonough reports
Eight months after the closure of the huge Prinovis printing plant in south Liverpool, which saw the loss of 250 jobs, the site has a new owner and possibly a new lease of life.
Property investor GB Europe has bought the 627,217 sq ft property, which also includes 27 acres of development land, from Prinovis UK for an undisclosed sum. Agents say it has the potential to be transformed into a 1m sq ft logistics complex.
Prinovis had announced the closure of the factory in late 2022. It blamed a decline in the publication printing market since 2019 and the rising cost of paper. The plant closed for the final time in June 2023.
CBRE has acted on behalf of Prinovis to sell the freehold interest of the building which occupies a 50-acre site within Estuary Business Park in Speke. Details on the future proposed use are to be confirmed at a later date.
Agents in CBRE’s industrial and logistics and office agency teams were appointed in March 2023 to sell the facility and, following a competitive bidding process, completed the transaction within just five weeks of agreeing terms.
It sits adjacent to Speke’s major global occupier base which includes Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, Seqirus and B&M. CBRE acted on behalf of Prinovis UK. KLIPA acted on behalf of GB Europe.
Neil Kirkham, senior director at CBRE in Liverpool, said: “Having received a significant amount of interest in this site, we are delighted to have concluded this transaction in a five-week period, a real accomplishment in the current market.
“The site has been so widely courted due to its strong location and redevelopment potential, and we look forward to seeing it come to fruition in the coming years.”
There will be a fair degree of optimism the site will be brought back into use. There is significant demand for industrial and logistics space in Liverpool city region and across the North West.
This is being partly fuelled by the launch in January 2023 of the Liverpool City Region Freeport. This week LBN revealed a new £65m 550,000 sq ft logistics complex would be built within the Freeport zone.
KKR and Mirastar have secured funding from Merseyside Pension Fund and Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund to speculatively build XDock at the 3MG multimodal site in Widnes. It has the potential to see the creation of up to 500 jobs.