New life for old office buildings on Crawley’s Manor Royal

Property consultancy Vail Williams has successfully secured a fresh start for three outdated office buildings on Crawley’s Manor Royal Business Park.

The firm acted on behalf of landlord Commercial Freehold & Investments Ltd which had sought advice on what were the best options for its redundant stock in the Northwood Park area of the estate.

The three buildings – Sackville, Swift and Kingfisher Houses – were older style office buildings not suited to the demands of modern occupiers.

Steve Berrett, Vail Williams’ partner based in Crawley, said: “We were instructed to investigate what form of refurbishment, redevelopment, repurposing or alternative uses would be best for the sites.”

The 21,000 sq ft (1,951 sq m) Sackville House on Gatwick Road, previously subject of an unsuccessful bid for a 24-hour gym, was sold and demolished for the development of EV charging facilities and a new Sainsbury’s convenience store, plus a Greggs.

The other two, smaller, buildings were retained and Vail Williams successfully let the whole of two-storey, 6,228 sq ft (568 sq m) Swift House to Pioneer Wound Telehealth Ltd on a 15-year lease.

The Vail Williams planning team led by regional managing partner Suzanne Holloway then secured change of use planning consent from office building to specialist health clinic for the company, an independent provider to the NHS of specialist wound healing and lymphoedema services across Sussex.

After a £500,000 refurbishment, the company’s subsidiary, the long-established Pioneer Wound Healing & Lymphoedema Centres, now operates a Crawley Centre of excellence from Swift House.

At Kingfisher House, 3,000 sq ft was let to Cardo Group, a leading provider of high-quality building maintenance and retrofit services for social housing and public sector buildings which sought easy accessibility and good parking.

Vail Williams and Graves Jenkins are currently marketing the remaining 4,471 sq ft (415.37 sq m) of space in the two-storey building as offices, with alternative uses considered with a quoting rent of £18.50 per square foot.

The open plan, partly refurbished space is being marketed as two flexible units from 2,107 sq ft to 4,471 sq ft with 14 car parking spaces available and the potential to rent more by way of separate negotiation. Stephen Oliver at Graves Jenkins is joint agent.

Samantha Bolton, Director at Commercial Freehold & Investments Ltd said: “We are hugely indebted to Vail Williams and Graves Jenkins for helping us overcome the challenges of breathing new life into outdated office buildings.

“The team helped us to think outside the box and take a fresh approach towards them, rather than complete redevelopment. The result has been an excellent mixture of uses which adds to the diverse nature of Manor Royal.”

Steve added: “This has been a hugely interesting project and we have enjoyed working with the client in ensuring the properties have remained fit for purpose in today’s world. We are keen to get the final refurbished office occupied, welcoming enquiries from business seeking their new home on Manor Royal.

“There is currently a great deal of activity at Manor Royal Business District and Vail Williams is very much at the heart of activity with involvement in a number of sites as landlords seek to deliver property to meet the needs of modern occupiers.”

Manor Royal Business District is the biggest business park of the Gatwick Diamond area and one of the south east's premier mixed activity employment hubs. It covers an area of 540 acres, with nine million sq ft of commercial space and is home to more than 600 businesses generating 30,000 jobs.

Northwood Park is situated in a prominent location on the east side of Gatwick Road on Manor Royal, with handy public transport and easy access to the M23, less than two miles away, and Gatwick Airport.

Vail Williams’ full-service property advice includes commercial agency, investment and development advice, building consultancy, property valuation, planning, lease advisory, property asset management, business rates and occupier consultancy.