Gramercy Europe, acting on behalf of Gramercy Property Europe III (GPE III), has acquired three warehouses in Catalonia, Spain, in two separate transactions, for €32.25m. The company purchased two logistics facilities in Constanti, south of Barcelona, in an established business park, for a total of €22.75m. Built in 2006, the first property totals 24,032m² and is fully let to Chemiprats, a distributor of plastic polymers and resins, on a triple net, CPI-linked lease with three years of the obligatory term. The warehouse’s key features include 10 metre clear heights, 28 dock doors and 50kN / m² floor loading capacity.
The second property, constructed in 2008 and totalling 25,930m², is fully let to Ingram Micro, the global computer and electronic equipment distributor, with just under two years of obligatory term remaining on the lease. It features 10 metre clear heights, 23 dock doors and 50kN / m² floor loading capacity. Both properties have a small office provision and are suitable for multiple tenants.
The business park is well positioned to serve both the local Barcelona metropolitan area as well as the national market, with approximately five million people living within a 100km radius. It benefits from excellent connectivity to the AP-7 and A-27 highways, with Reus airport 2km away and the Port of Tarragona, Spain’s 5th largest port by output, 10km away. The park is home to several major blue-chip companies, including Amazon and DHL.
Gramercy has also acquired an institutional quality, 20,120m² warehouse in La Bisbal del Penedès, also south of Barcelona, for €9.5m. Constructed in 2005 and comprising two interconnected buildings, the property features 12-14 metre clear heights and 20 loading docks. It is let to Naeko Logistics, a 3PL servicing a contract for an international retailer, with 3.5 years on the lease. The tenant delivers products throughout southern Europe from this location.
Located on the Les Planes Industrial Estate, 70km from the Port of Barcelona and 40km from the Port of Tarragona, the property benefits from excellent accessibility; the A2 highway, the main east/west route connecting Barcelona and Madrid is 1km away; whilst the AP-7, the primary highway linking Murcia and Valencia to the South and France to the North, is 5km away.
Alistair Calvert, CEO of Gramercy Europe, commented: “The Spanish logistics market is one of the fastest growing in Europe, as tenants upgrade to modern buildings and e-commerce penetration begins to catch up with other more established Western European countries. At the same time, there is a shortage of both existing warehouse space, as well as land for new development, which is forcing tenants to look at new submarkets to service the major conurbations and which we expect to underpin significant rental growth across the sector in the medium-term. These three acquisitions support our strategy of identifying and acquiring tenant critical assets in under rented and undersupplied pockets of Western Europe, where we believe we can deliver market outperformance through select asset management initiatives. We are in advanced discussions to deploy the remaining proceeds of the third Fund in both existing and new markets, whilst also starting to identify a pipeline of opportunities to invest in on behalf of our new vehicle.”
