Princess Yachts has officially purchased land that it’s been leasing for the past year, in preparation for establishing new-build sheds for its M Class megayacht models.
Princess Yachts became a tenant at the Devonport Naval Base, operated by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), in 2009. The decision was made because Princess’ facilities to that point were unable to accommodate anything larger than the Princess 95MY, its then-flagship. Thanks to the lease agreement, Princess Yachts was able to build and launch the 32M, pictured here, as well as finish the hull for the first 40M megayacht.
Now that Princess Yachts owns the property, it has applied for funding from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF). The RGF was established in England to support projects in the private sector that lead to economic growth and sustainable employment. Princess Yachts anticipates investing £35 million, or nearly $54.8 million, into the facilities.
If the funding is approved, Princess Yachts expects the M Class megayachts to be in full production there between 2012 and 2013.
Chris Gates, Princess Yachts’ managing director, says, “We have been working closely with the MOD and its property arm, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, ever since we took up the lease for the site in 2009, and both have been tremendously supportive of the acquisition.”
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