AEW announces the acquisition of a Grade A last mile light industrial asset in Lesquin, near Lille in France, on behalf of its urban light industrial platform, ULLIS.
Constructed in 2018, the asset comprises c. 6,500m2 of urban light industrial space, including c. 500m2 of office space. The current occupier is due to vacate the premises later this year and AEW plans to re-lease the space, which is situated on ‘CRT Lesquin’, the largest business and logistics park in the Lille metropolitan area and one of the most sought-after locations for last mile logistics in the region.
AEW has also identified opportunities to improve the sustainability of the asset as part of a manage-to-green strategy which is designed to create value and support resilience over the long-term. This will involve measures to improve the asset’s energy consumption through the installation of heat pumps, LED lighting and EV charging stations, as well as rooftop PV panels. AEW is targeting BREEAM In-Use “Very Good” certification for the building.
The asset is located c. 10km south-east of Lille, within the most populated areas in France with over 1.2 million inhabitants, and benefits from excellent connectivity with access to the motorway network including the A23 to Valenciennes, A22 and A27 to Belgium and A1 to Paris.
This acquisition increases ULLIS’s total portfolio to over 150,000m2 of last-mile industrial and logistics space across Europe, as AEW continues to grow and diversify the Fund’s footprint across Europe’s main urban logistics hubs.
Jeremy Convert, Head of Investments France at AEW, commented: “We are continuing to actively deploy capital on behalf of ULLIS into our pipeline and this acquisition adds a high quality, last mile logistics asset in an excellent location to the Fund’s portfolio. The Fund will benefit from immediate income, and we have a clear strategy to re-let the space. The light industrial market in Lille continues to perform well with extremely low vacancy resulting in sustainable demand for space and we are confident that the building will attract strong occupier interest.”
Image source - AEW.
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