Gramercy Europe has increased its investment in the Dutch logistics market, through the purchase of a high-quality warehouse used as a distribution centre outside Rotterdam and a development site in Utrecht, in two transactions totalling €40m. Following these transactions, Gramercy will have invested nearly €150m in the Netherlands for its third fund, Gramercy Property Europe III, representing over 160,000m² of leasable area.
A high-quality warehouse used as a distribution centre in Berkel en Rodenrijs totals c. 26,000m². Built in 2014 and extended in 2018, the facility comprises 25,002m² of generic, institutional quality warehouse space, split into a freezer, refrigerated, packing and expedition compartments, with 1,290m² of additional office space. The property was sold by Sligro Food Group Nederland, which will continue to occupy the property, using it as distribution hub covering the major conurbations of Rotterdam, Dordrecht, The Hague and Leiden.
In a second transaction, Gramercy has agreed to acquire a development site from Borghese Logistics, who will act as development manager. The site is located in the Lage Weide logistics park in Utrecht. The property will total 17,041m² of modern, institutional quality space, featuring 12.2 metre clear heights, 50kN/m² floor loading capacity, LED lighting and a BREEAM Very Good certification. Completion is planned for December 2019.
Alistair Calvert, CEO of Gramercy Europe, commented: “We continue to grow our latest fund’s exposure to the strongly performing Dutch logistics market, building on our deep track record and strong occupier relationships. These most recent transactions reflect the diversity of the sorts of deals we will look at in markets that we know intimately, one a core, long let asset to a strong covenant and the second speculative forward funding in a location that is seeing strong occupational demand, underpinned by structural trends.”
