Martin counts on Durham partners
PROPERTY WEEK
29.01.10
By Jennifer Rigby
Businessman at centre of “donorgate” row ready to start rail freight-based park
David Martin, the developer whose donations to the Labour Party caused a media storm in 2007, is seeking development partners for his 500 acre Durham Green Business Park.
Martin hopes the site will bring jobs to the north-east and become a global beacon for green technologies. He says he may also sell parts of the site, which he assembled over 10 years, to kickstart development.
Martin said: “I have funded going through the planning process and everything up to now with my own resources, and am now looking for funding partners. I may sell some land to get money to re-invest into the park.”
The plans could mark a new era for Martin and the site after the 2007 controversy, when donations he made to the Labour Party under the names of his employees contravened electoral law. Labour general secretary Peter Watt was forced to stand down over the affair.
“I am hoping that this will overshadow the political donations and show what I stand for and do,” said Martin. “I hope it will put Britain on a global stage for green technologies.”
Martin has appointed Jones Lang LaSalle, WSB Property Consultants and Naylors Chartered Surveyors to let the scheme.
The site has planning permission for a rail freight terminal, leisure space, around 1m sq ft of industrial space and 350,000 sq ft of office space.
The rail freight terminal is the only one to have been approved on the London-to-Edinburgh line, Martin said.
He is already in talks with prospective occupiers, among them Hitachi, which is interested in 50 acres to test trains on the rail track, the Tyneside Film Commission and waste disposal companies that produce biofuels.
The government provides incentives for environmentally friendly development in the north-east and Martin plans to donate profits to charity.
At the moment Martin is working on developing the infrastructure of the site. It will not be built speculatively.
