Kodak sells factory land for offices

Nov 14 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

AROUND 500,000 sq ft of new business space is to be created on the site of a former Kodak factory in Kirkby.

Teams from the Sheffield and Birmingham offices of DLA Piper advised Kodak UK, a subsidiary of US multinational Eastman Kodak, based in Rochester, New York, on the sale of its former imaging chemicals production factory in Knowsley to Acorn Development (Kirkby).

Under the deal Acorn, an affiliate of IPPE, will acquire the 37 acre plot and carry out a re-development and regeneration project on the site at Kirkby Industrial Estate at Knowsley.

Teresa Hitchcock, a partner in the safety health and environment team based in Sheffield, led the team advising on regeneration aspects along with Real Estate partner Alex Jones in DLA Piper’s Birmingham office, which handled property aspects of the deal.

Ms Hitchcock said: “DLA Piper was happy to assist Kodak to reach agreement on this innovative project, which will re-utilise this former industrial site to provide around 500,000 square feet of accommodation space and new business opportunities in the Knowsley area.

“The project is an excellent example of what can to be done to ensure new development is, as far as possible, carried out on existing industrial sites, rather than greenfield sites, and provide a focus for further growth in the surrounding neighbourhood.”

Acorn was advised by a team at Cobbetts in Birmingham led by Partner Eleanor Deady.

tonymcdonough