AEW has agreed to forward fund the development of a c. 49,000 sqm Grade A and fully automated logistics asset in Ridderkerk, near Rotterdam in the Netherlands, on behalf of its open-ended pan-European core fund, Eurocore.
The fulfilment center is being developed by Impact Vastgoed. The development is pre-let to Picnic, a provider of online grocery deliveries, on a long-term lease.
The property will house a fully automated system over three levels with ancillary office space and 360 car parking spaces. The scheme, which is being delivered by Impact Vastgoed, is expected to complete by the end of 2022.
In line with the fund’s focus on sustainable buildings, the asset has been designed to a high specification including heath pumps and an LED lighting system and is targeting at least a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating.
The asset is strategically located in the heart of the European logistics corridor running from Rotterdam towards Tilburg, Eindhoven, Venlo and the German hinterland, and is only 15 minutes from the Port of Rotterdam, the largest container port in Europe, with excellent connectivity to other major Dutch cities via the A15 and A16 highways. The development is situated on the Nieuw Reijerwaard business park, a major hub for food logistics across the Netherlands, which sits along the A15 corridor within the Rotterdam metropolitan area.
This represents the seventh investment on behalf of Eurocore, which held its first close in January 2021 and has raised €470 million of equity commitments until now.
The open ended fund aims to provide stable, long term income returns by investing in a diversified, future-proof portfolio of core logistics, residential and office assets in mature and growing markets in Europe’s major cities. The current portfolio comprises assets in the logistics, residential and life sciences sectors across the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Denmark.
Christina Ofschonka, Senior Fund Manager of Eurocore at AEW, commented: “Eurocore was launched to capitalise on the megatrends driving demand for real estate; the growth of e-commerce and the localisation of supply chain networks continue to underpin the need for strategically located (last mile) warehouse space. This investment presents an attractive opportunity to acquire a high-quality asset benefiting from these growth drivers and marks strong progress in deploying the equity raised so far. With recent additional successes in capital raising, the total equity of the fund now stands at € 470m with 70% of the first close equity being already drawn. With our teams all across Europe we continue to search for interesting opportunities throughout the core markets across Europe”
Frederique Weber, Country Manager for The Netherlands at AEW, commented: “This transaction for Eurocore shows that we are able to source high quality products matching our Fund’s criteria in the current dynamic market. With a long term lease agreement in place, the asset is a strong addition to the portfolio of Eurocore and aligns with the Fund’s strategy of providing long-term, resilient income. The high-quality of this development is a great foundation for the start of this prestigious project and we look forward to working with Impact Vastgoed through to completion. This will be the second lease we have in place across our wider European portfolio with Picnic and we look forward to strengthening our relationship with them.”
The distribution center was designed by architect Palazzo. Construction company Aan de Stegge Twello has been contracted as the contractor.
