Urban Hive in Hackney gets off to flying start

Countryside Properties PLC has completed and forward sold all of its Urban Hive units on Theydon Road, Clapton, part of a larger mixed use regeneration scheme on the former Latham’s Timber Yard site in the London Borough of Hackney.

All eight units totalling 2,134 sq m (22,960 sq ft) have been sold to a range of industrial occupiers at freehold prices in the region of £175 per sq ft. Urban Hive Hackney is Countryside’s 6th ‘Urban Hive’ scheme in Greater London and provides high specification units 10 minutes from Clapton Station, on the fringe of the City of London, only 3 miles from the Lower Lee Valley and the Olympic 2012 site.

Phase 2 of the project will comprise two office / studio buildings know as Flexspace 1 and Flexspace 2 of 1,182 sq m (12,723 sq ft) and 549 sq m (4,940 sq ft) respectively. Construction of these buildings is now well advanced with completion scheduled for the end of the year. Flexspace 1 includes retail accommodation on the ground floor. The entire project also includes a major new residential community as well as a Doctor’s Surgery which has been pre-let to a local Doctor’s practice.

Mark Chatham, Director of Countryside Properties said “We are delighted to have sold all of our small freehold industrial units at Urban Hive, Hackney. With our Urban Hive concept we were one of the first developers to spot a gap in the market for small, freehold owner occupier sales back in the late 1990’s. We have an excellent track record in this sector and considerable research on what occupiers are looking for in terms of layout and specification. To build on this success, we are currently targeting further ‘Urban Hive’ opportunities throughout London and the South-East “