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Investment in “Last Mile” Logistics Platforms Takes Off  

14 October 2019 – The boom in e-commerce is sparking a revolution in the logistics markets as industry players seek to increase the speed of deliveries. The ability to deliver goods quickly in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona is leading firms to acquire logistics platforms that are located close to city centres. Market watchers refer to the “last mile” – the final delivery of goods to the customer’s home. Thus, the industrial estates that surround Madrid and Barcelona are slowing being repurposed as logistics platforms. The most sought-after are less than 10 kilometres from the most central neighbourhoods.

In an example of the tendency, the Spanish real estate group Allegra recently finalised the sale of a logistics park in the Marconi industrial estate, to the south of Madrid in Villaverde. The logistics platform consists of two warehouses measuring 9,798 and 7,676 square meters, respectively. The US-fund Hines, one of the four most important real estate management companies in the world, acquired the asset for 22 million euros. It was Hines first investment in the logistics sector in Spain.

According to data from the real estate consultancy JLL, though the price of logistics assets in Barcelona are currently higher than in Madrid, €7/m2 on average, compared to €5.5 in the capital, Madrid is seen to have major potential. The allocation of such platforms soared from 185,000 square meters in the third quarter of 2018 to 290,000 m2 this year, an increase of 48%. JLL also estimates that developers are working on another half a million square meters of platforms in Madrid, compared to 182,000 square meters in Catalonia.

Original Story: ABC – Adrián Delgado

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner