Rural estate business park

Built around 1816, the Grade II* listed Prestwick Hall is considered to be one of renowned architect John Dobson's most successful classical houses. In 1979, the current owners purchased the property and began its much needed restoration, following its use during World War II as a prisoner of war camp.

A decade after the purchase and restoration of the Hall and formal gardens, the owners bought a further 350 acres of surrounding farmland in order to protect and preserve the country estate that had become their family home.

In 2005, the family began to look at diversification possibilities and approached Rural Solutions to help. An appraisal of the various market opportunities resulted in planning consent for the redevelopment of derelict farm buildings to create a prestigious and contemporary business park in beautiful parkland surroundings on the outskirts of Newcastle.

Prestwick Park has become one of Northumberland’s leading providers of high-quality offices, making an important contribution to local economic prosperity and currently hosting 15 companies across marine, energy, professional, creative, real estate and financial sectors.

Objective

To develop a viable new estate based enterprise to provide income for the estate through the redevelopment of farm buildings into a successful business park.

Approach

Following an extensive market opportunities assessment, in 2005 the dilapidated farm buildings at Prestwick Hall were redesigned and redeveloped into a contemporary new business park comprising both newbuild and conversion, achieving on average, a 32% premium over local office rents.

In 2020 Rural Solutions worked with the family once more, promoting additional land to the emerging Northumberland Local Plan to secure the allocation of a further 2 hectares of employment land from the metropolitan green belt adjacent to the existing site. This was followed by research to determine the most valuable proposition for the extended business park, considering the shifting preferences of office tenants in a climate of uncertainty and rapid change. Rural Solutions is currently working with the family to create the concept, design and secure planning for one of the country’s first sustainable rural newbuild office schemes for the site.

Planning consent was granted and the first phase of the office park was developed, enjoying healthy occupancy since opening. Work is underway to design an extension to the park on the additional 2 hectares of employment land which will grow the total space to c. 100,000 ft².