Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate (“Warburg-HIH Invest”) acquired a logistic property in Bleiswijk near Rotterdam for Korean investors led by Midas International Asset Management and NH Investment & Securities. The property was sold by a joint venture between the investment manager USAA Realco Europe, the European subsidiary of USAA Real Estate and Dutch developer Somerset Capital Partners.
The property is let in its entirety to Zalando, Europe’s leading online platform for fashion and lifestyle. The site occupies a plot area of 250,000 sqm and includes around 1,200 parking spots. The completed building will have a gross lettable area of 140,000 sqm, including about 12,000 sqm of office space. This will make it the largest single-tenant logistics property in the Netherlands. As a result of the high sustainability standards that the property meets, the building is expected to receive a BREEAM “Very Good” certification.
“Due its geographic location at the North Sea with the Port of Rotterdam, inland rivers and excellent road and rail system the Netherlands is the gateway to mainland Europe. Due to this position our country has become an important hub for logistic services and therefore the logistics real estate market is well matured. Increasing international trade and e-commerce has driven the occupier demand for logistic real estate heavily and this asset class thusly has high priority with investors. Notwithstanding the competitive environment we were able to acquire a sustainable logistics property on behalf of our Korean partners,” said Reinoud Plantenga, Managing Director of Warburg-HIH Invest Benelux.
Bleiswijk is part of the Randstad region, the economic heart of the Netherlands, and is only 15 km away from Rotterdam, which is home to the largest port in Europe and 50 km from Amsterdam as well as Schiphol -Airport, the third largest passenger and cargo airport in the Eurozone.
“This deal was transacted entirely during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, including site inspections, negotiations, audits and acquisition. Our Korean investors had the capacity to act even during these special times and show keen interest in the European property market,” said Matthias Brodesser, Head of Transaction Management International at Warburg-HIH Invest.
“We are very pleased to have completed this transaction together with Warburg-HIH as logistics real estate is a favourable and crisis-resilient asset class. This acquisition complements our requirements of grade A logistics assets with grade A covenant and location as it supports our strategy of expanding our investment horizon in Europe and to continue to deliver sustainable returns to our investors,” said Eun Young Hyun, Managing Director of Midas International Asset Management.
“This transaction further diversifies NH Securities & Investment’s asset mix into the latest trend in logistics in the Netherlands since our investment in the office asset ‘Edge Amsterdam West’ in Amsterdam in 2018, and we are pleased with the progress especially during the Covid-19 situation. NH Securities & Investment has a long track record for investing high quality assets in strategic locations and this investment is in line with our vision. Looking ahead, we expect the Dutch real estate market will maintain its strong performance and we are glad about our successful collaboration with Warburg-HIH Invest and having invested once again in the Netherlands,” said Chris Park, Managing Director of NH Securities & Investment.
Martin Erbe, Head of Real Estate Finance International Clients Germany, CEE & Benelux at HELABA, responsible for the debt financing for the transaction, comments: “We are proud to assist our client with this outstanding acquisition. The transaction confirms the view of investors as well as ours, that the Netherlands continues to be an attractive investment market for logistic properties. At the same time, the financing demonstrates our relationship approach to follow our clients into their target markets despite challenging times.”
