Regeneration firm Peel L&P has welcomed national and international investors to its £1.7 billion GatewayEast development in Doncaster.

The company has completed two significant sales and several occupiers choosing the location to expand.

Panattoni, the world's largest industrial developer, finalised contracts to purchase nearly 20 acres to build a 417,570 sq ft building for logistics and manufacturing use adjacent to the recently consented Central Plaza scheme, GatewayEast's planned new centre for retail, leisure and community use.

The development, called Panattoni Doncaster 420, will be a facility at Peel L&P’s GatewayEast logistics and manufacturing hub near Doncaster Sheffield Airport. Panattoni has acquired the 18.4 acre site. Panattoni expects to start construction later this year with the intention of delivering the facility in Summer 2023.

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Meanwhile, North West-based property investor GC Capital acquired the 47,000 sq ft. Armstrong House office building on First Avenue marking their first major investment in the East of England.

The two-storey building owned by Peel since it first acquired RAF Finningley is currently occupied by a mix of local businesses who will continue to be based at the site. The building provides the perfect base for start-ups and has proven to be a stepping-stone for businesses to locate to GatewayEast before upsizing into other premises elsewhere at the development.

Other recent activity at GatewayEast includes lettings at the Avion development by Trebor Developments. These two lettings, including one to furniture retailer SCS, look set to create around 200 jobs.

Marshall CDP have enjoyed success at their Kestrel Court development, filling the first phase and now starting work on the second phase. Rail services provider Dual Inventive has acquired one of the completed units creating 32 high-quality engineering jobs as part of their continued expansion.

Peel L&P's newly refurbished permanent office base on site at Heyford House also reaffirms its long-term commitment to the development of GatewayEast.

GatewayEast is South Yorkshire's largest opportunity for transformational sustainable social and economic growth and includes Doncaster Sheffield Airport as well as direct connections to the M18 by the recently completed Great Yorkshire Way link road.

GatewayEast is set to boost Sheffield City Region’s economy by £6.5bn within 15 years, creating 35,000 jobs across the region and up to 3,000 new homes including a new residential development near Hayfield Green in Auckley.