Won in competition, purchased by The Crown Estate as an investment, John Lewis' new distribution centre at Magna Park Milton Keynes (UK) blazes a green trail for all UK logistics buildings.

Christmas 2007 was a tough time for high street retailers - with one notable exception. John Lewis made headlines by bucking the trend and posting double-digit sales growth for the festive period. Such is the retailer's confidence that it plans to open ten new UK department stores over the coming decade.

Those stores will be supplied from John Lewis' new distribution centre at Magna Park Milton Keynes. Attracting John Lewis was great news for Gazeley and its joint venture partner Land Securities. Letting the building to John Lewis and the subsequent investment sale to The Crown Estate provided Magna Park Milton Keynes with a flying start.

"Magna Park Milton Keynes is the successor to Gazeley's environmentally-responsible Magna Park Lutterworth. We are seeking to further enhance sustainability performance at Milton Keynes and seeking customers who share our sustainable objectives", says Nigel Godfrey, Director at Gazeley.

It was the developer's emphasis on sustainability which was the key factor in bringing John Lewis to Milton Keynes. In 2006, five parties were invited to submit proposals to the retailer to build its new national distribution centre.

Magna Park's location and its access to a skilled labour force worked in its favour, but it was the scheme's green credentials that clinched the deal.

"We didn't realise the sustainability agenda would be so significant for John Lewis at first, however we very soon found that we were knocking on an open door. The customer was embracing sustainability with the same enthusiasm we were," recalls Godfrey.

The building reduces CO2 emissions by 39% a year as well as producing operating cost savings of £238,000 (€333,000) in John Lewis' annual energy bill through a combination of measures including efficient heating, extra rooflights and motion-sensitive lighting controls.

John Lewis took a 20-year lease and soon after construction began, The Crown Estate contracted to buy the building. Again, the building's sustainable features worked in its favour. At the time of purchase in March 2007, Giles Clarke, Director of Investment at The Crown Estate, said, "This acquisition is not only the largest to date by The Crown Estate but also one of our greenest. There is a strong fit between this acquisition and our wider aspiration to make our £6bn estate more environmentally-friendly."

The sale of the investment was a major boost for the scheme, helping Gazeley and Land Securities generate income for £30m of infrastructure works at the site. This includes a contribution of £18.3m to the local community over the next 10-15 years under Milton Keynes' innovative infrastructure tariff arrangement.

The building was handed over to John Lewis in July 2007. Complex fit-out operations will continue over the course of this year and by Christmas 2008 the facility will be supplying new stores such as those in Leicester and Cardiff.

The John Lewis building is only the beginning for Magna Park Milton Keynes, however. The scheme is also looking at providing on site power generation to supply occupiers with electricity. Gazeley has planning permission for a total of 316,000 sq m (3.4m sq ft) of logistics development. It has taken Gazeley 13 years of hard work to guide Magna Park Milton Keynes through the planning process. But that patient toil is now beginning to pay off. Over the coming decade the scheme looks set to surpass its predecessor at Magna Park Lutterworth as the premier dedicated environmental logistics park in the UK.