ProLogis has announced that it has secured land use rights to 26.7 acres (107,835 m2) on which it will develop 1.05 million square feet (97,547 m2) in four facilities to meet the growing demand for distribution space at Beijing Capital International Airport.
ProLogis also has been awarded the right of first refusal for any development of distribution facilities on additional land within the Beijing Airport Logistics Park.
ProLogis Park Beijing Airport will be developed in two phases within Beijing Airport Logistics Park, which is one of only three logistics hubs in Beijing designated by the municipal government. Phase I will consist of a 263,510 square-foot (24,480 m2) facility that has an expected completion date in the first quarter of 2006. Phase II will consist of three distribution facilities totaling 790,530 square feet (73,440 m2). Total investment will be approximately $36 million (298 million RMB).
Jeffrey H. Schwartz, chief executive officer of ProLogis, said, "We are very excited about ProLogis Park Beijing Airport. Not only is this our first investment in the Beijing market, but it is also our first investment in an airport logistics park in China. Given Beijing's status as the economic and transportation hub for northern China, and with the Olympic Games coming to Beijing in 2008, the customer interest in our facilities is expected to be strong."
Beijing Airport Logistics Park is located less than 2 miles (3 km) from the cargo terminal at Beijing Capital International Airport and just 12 miles (20 km) from Beijing's central business district. Beijing Airport has the most passenger traffic of any airport in China and is ranked as one of the top 30 cargo airports worldwide. The airport is in the process of a major expansion with a projected completion in 2008. At that time, cargo volume for the airport is expected to triple to 2 million tons annually.
In addition to being the country's capital and cultural center, Beijing has a population of over 11 million and has experienced dramatic growth recently in foreign direct investment, exports and GDP. In 2004, foreign direct investment in Beijing grew by 12% to $6.5 billion (54.1 billion RMB), exports grew by 22% to $20.6 billion (170.5 billion RMB), and GDP grew by 13% to $52 billion (430.4 billion RMB).
Source: ProLogis
