In the course of its expansion strategy in Germany, CA Immo is buying a development project in Hamburg that will be leased in its entirety to the textiles group Hennes & Mauritz (H&M). The acquisition from The Carlyle Group is taking place within the framework of a forward purchase agreement. The exact purchase price has not been revealed. With this purchase, CA Immo has completed another major step in achieving its German investment goal for 2007 of €1 billion.
Long-term returns
The new H&M Logistics Centre is distinctive as a particularly stable vehicle for returns owing to the fixed lease agreement extending for many years. This means that the project fits ideally into the CA Immo strategy, in which, alongside property packages, single projects are realized only if they are of an attractive size and with sustainable perspectives in terms of returns. With its future longterm revenues, this project mainly contributes to the growth and sustainability of CA Immo´s German portfolio.
About 115,000 m² useful area
On a plot of some 146,000 m², The Carlyle Group is currently constructing an ultra-modern logistics property with a useful area of about 115,000 m², custom-designed to the requirements of H&M. Completion and handover are scheduled for 01.04.2008. H&M was comprehensively involved in the planning and development of the property right from the start and will lease the property on a long-term basis by way of a 15-year lease agreement with extension options.
A fully-automated, high-bay warehouse is being set up in the interior of the building together with additional storage and office areas. The logistics center, which meets every technical requirement for a modern distribution center and has 104 docking stations, will initially supply some 400 H&M branches in Germany and the Netherlands. However, with an eye to the continuing expansion strategy of the textiles group, the building has already been designed to supply up to 800 branches. In addition, subsequent expansion options exist for a useful area of about 20,000 m². 500 car parking spaces and 130 truck spaces are being provided next to the building.
Best site in the south of Hamburg
The property is located in the Allermöhe industrial estate situated in the south of the north German city of Hamburg. Optimum transport links are essential for the property's intended use as a logistics center, and these are provided in outstanding fashion with several important motorway connections in the immediate vicinity. The quality of the location is underlined by the fact that other logistics centers can be found close by, for example those of the Kühne & Nagel haulage company, Deutsche Telekom and DHL, the express delivery service.
Source: CA Immo
