AEW Europe, on behalf of the LOGISTIS fund, has acquired a 100,000m² logistics development in the south of France (Saint-Martin-de-Crau) from Dyna Logistics, a private French real estate company.
AEW will oversee the completion of the construction of a turnkey logistics platform for leading French retailer Maisons du Monde, which has pre-let the entire building on a 12-year lease. Currently in development by Gemfi (Gicram Grou), the building will be both BREEAM and HQE certified upon completion in 2016.
Situated in the heart of the Ecopôle logistics hub, the property sits along the highway linking Spain and Italy and is connected to the main roads of the Rhône axis as well as the Container Terminal of Port of Marseille. The campus contains a rail terminal and a dedicated service centre for operators and will play a key role in the organisation of Maisons du Monde’s supply chain to its approx. 250 retail outlets across Europe.
The LOGISTIS fund was created in 2012 as a merger of AEW Europe’s three existing logistics funds, creating a €1bn pan-European logistics platform. Additional equity was raised in 2014, bringing the total equity to more than €1.3bn. The fund mainly focuses on logistics hotspots in Continental Europe targeting Germany, The Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain and selected markets in Central Europe.
Rémy Vertupier, LOGISTIS fund manager said: "This transaction represents an important new stage in the development of LOGISTIS in the PACA region (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) of France, following the completion of over 200,000 sqm of assets within the Clésud logistics park. We believe that the construction of large size logistics assets in strategic areas meets the structural demand of a market in constant pursuit of operational performance. Maisons du Monde is also a very welcome addition to LOGISTIS’s client base."
