KINGSTON UPON HULL
HOTSPOT
The next propertyhotspot
A new series where investigates agents’ claims that their village, town or city is the next property hotspot.
This month, Kingston upon Hull H
ull, or, more properly, Kingston upon Hull, on Britain’s most blustery and chilly coast, is not a city that springs to mind when talking about property hotspots.
Hull has been towards the bottom of the
pops for many years; devastated by bombs in the Second World War, the city has struggled to reclaim its popularity. Over the last few years there has been
major development in the city centre with swish apartment blocks popping up and a whole host of new retail and leisure developments. But this regeneration will pale into insignificance with a whole new surge of energy – quite literally – powers into town. The German engineering conglomerate
Siemens has selected Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Hull development to build what will be Britain’s first major offshore wind turbine manufacturing plant. The decision means that ABP is in line to
receive about £20m for the development from the government’s ports upgrade fund, which energy secretary Chris Huhne
The Queen’s Gardens and City Hall
fought to save from the spending cuts in October’s comprehensive spending review. The news is a massive boost for Hull,
which has beaten off competition from ports in Teesside, Sunderland and the Humber, also shortlisted for the project. The factory is expected to create about 800 jobs initially, but about 9,000 more are expected to come from operations work, such as maintenance and supply activities. Siemens has signed a memorandum of understanding with ABP over its Green Port Hull proposed development at Alexandria Dock. Under the plan, ABP would build a £100m deepwater berth at
the port capable of handling the new generation of large offshore wind turbines. It would be one of the biggest single investments ABP has made in Britain. Siemens also wants to build a new £80m
wind turbine plant on the site, which will cover the UK Government Round 3 off- shore wind farm zones, as well as other countries in the North West European Siemens cluster. The two companies hope to sign
definitive agreements this year. Siemens, with General Electric and Mitsubishi, who plan to build similar plants in Britain, had threatened to go elsewhere if the £60m ports funding had been withdrawn. Now, the two companies will work to develop the plans for the new Siemens plant and export facility at the Port. Colliers International worked with
Siemens Real Estate on the site selection process. Paul Scourfield, Director, Building Consultancy at Colliers International, said, “We are delighted to have been able to advise Siemens in the decision process to base its new wind turbine plant at Alexandra Docks.
PROPERTYdrum MARCH 2011 23
Pics courtesy of Welcome to Yorkshire
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