MEAG has purchased two logistics properties in Alkmaar, the Netherlands for a real estate fund: an existing refrigerated warehouse and a distribution centre that is to be built. The existing facility and development project was acquired as a package within a sale and leaseback transaction. The cold store, built in 2004, has 16,527m² of leasable space. The planned new building comprise 14,392m² and is scheduled for completion in Q3 of 2022. Heembouw has been selected as the contractor.
The tenant is the owner-managed food retailer Vomar, which has had its head office in Alkmaar for decades. Both logistics properties are in the immediate vicinity of the company headquarter, strategically located so as to always be able to quickly replenish the shelves at the round 94 Vomar supermarkets with fresh produce.
Katrin Hupfauer, Head of Real Estate Transactions at MEAG, said: "Our investment focus is on the trends of logistics and food retail. Both segments are largely decoupled from economic cycles and crises, which makes them ideal for insurance companies for generating stable cash flows and diversifying the real estate portfolio. Our thanks go out to Hoorne and Vomar for the outstanding collaboration. We are very happy to be able to welcome a leading food retailer in the north of the Netherlands as a tenant, and we look forward to assisting Vomar with its expansion strategy."
According to Hoorne CEO Paul van der Eng, the sale of the distribution centres will further reinforce the company’s focus on sustainable real estate investments in residential and commercial construction in particular: "Our long-term vision partly focuses on developing rental homes in the middle market segment, whether or not in combination with community-oriented projects and neighbourhood shopping centres."
