Heath Park sparks enquiries from global investment community
April 28th, 2022: SOG Group is now in discussions with some of the world's biggest investment and Real Estate organisations as the company seeks to raise the funds required to deliver the 'Heath Park' vision for the site in Runcorn, Cheshire.
Tim Metson, SOG’s Real Estate Agent, says he has been extremely encouraged by the response since the official Investor Pack for Heath Park was launched at MIPIM, the annual global Real Estate conference, held in France last month.
Says Metson: “Heath Park has certainly triggered interest from some of the world’s biggest investment organisations. To date we are dealing with enquiries from Japan, China, United States of America, France, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and around half a dozen of the major players who are based in the United Kingdom.
The fact that Heath Park is so cutting-edge with Net Zero Carbon aspirations geared towards addressing the challenges of Climate Change has brought an extremely encouraging response from leading global organisations. We’re communicating with each of these organisations as part of our process to find an appropriate ethical investor or investors who can turn SOG’s Heath Park vision into reality.”
Heath Park evolved from a global competition challenging architects, designers, planners and forward thinkers to create a sustainable futuristic environment, powered by renewable energy, where people can live, work and play. This resulted in an extraordinary and visionary scheme to meet the challenges of Climate Change through the creation of a 21st century version of Port Sunlight*. Predicted trends for future living including employment, housing, leisure, community, transport and energy consumption have been assessed in a feasibility study, carried out in conjunction with Lancaster and Liverpool Universities, to scrutinise the potential for the 57-acre site.
A Liverpool City Region Beacon Project, Heath Park is one of 35 ethical schemes promoted in the UK Government’s Global Investment Atlas.
Metson adds: “The ground-breaking Vertical Farm, powered by renewable energy that sits at the heart of Heath Park has also been a key factor in attracting interest from ethical investors. The whole scheme is built around exceptional ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) credentials and in the current climate this is what appeals to the big investment bodies. We’re in the process of signing Non-Disclosure Agreements with several of these organisations which underpins the strength of interest in Heath Park.”
Heath Park includes:
• A mixed-use development with ultra-energy efficient housing, designed to maximise available space, in environments where people can gather, play and socialise in multi-functional streets.
• Parkland and wooded areas for relaxation and recreation.
• A vibrant new centre with accessible services including shops, restaurants, bars, leisure, arts and medical facilities.
• A world-first Vertical Farm powered totally by renewable energy which will also incorporate a Vertical Farming Centre of Excellence.
• An inclusive transport strategy, enabling people of all ages to be active and connected, whether or not they own a car…with safe walkways, cycle routes and easy access to public transport.
For further details visit:
or contact tim.metson@heathpark-uk.com
View the Heath Park Investor film:
https://vimeo.com/cdandpmedia/review/680878394/5b179ba980
* Heath Park’s ethos is modelled on ‘Port Sunlight’, the Victorian village built by industrialist Viscount Leverhulme in the 1800s. Reacting to appalling living conditions at the time, Lord Leverhulme’s inspiring idea created houses and community facilities in a healthy environment for workers of his soap factory.
About SOG Group
SOG Group is one of the UK’s top independent operators of business and science parks and are renowned site regeneration specialists. SOG own The Heath Business and Technical Park in Runcorn, Cheshire, which is home to over 120 individual businesses that between them support the employment of around 2,000 people. Using The Heath business model, SOG created a consultancy operation under the name of ‘Fusion’. SOG’s Fusion team spearheaded the regeneration of a massive site in east London, formerly home to a global pharmaceutical company, where it created Londoneast-uk Business and Technical Park. Until February 2019, SOG operated Londoneast-uk as a sister Park to The Heath before selling it to a company owned by the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham. Through its Fusion concept, SOG helped to generate over £2 billion of inward investment to the Dagenham site regeneration programme.
SOG’s Runcorn operation is a unique example of how a successful science and technology park should operate. Many of the organisations located in the facilities are at the very cutting-edge of scientific R&D, with firms specialising from nanotechnology to carbon emissions research and from pioneering work on hip and knee joint replacements to water and waste-water treatment technology. As The Heath site has reached full capacity, SOG has embarked on a new build-programme which allows existing fast-growing resident businesses to move out of multi-occupancy units into their own exclusive bespoke buildings, designed and built by SOG’s team. SOG is currently working on the vision to transform The Heath into a Net Zero carbon environment over the next decade through the creation of Heath Park.
PAUL SMITH ASSOCIATES
3rd May 2022