Madrid & Valencia Led The Logistics Market In October

6 November 2017 – Cadena de Suministro

The month of October was marked by the developments carried out by Mercadona, Grupo Lar and Inditex in the Community of Valencia; as well as by the transfer of DB Schenker’s operations in Madrid, Invesco’s new development in Getafe and Neinver’s purchase of a 40,000 m2 site (also in Madrid).

The Spanish logistics market is continuing to perform well, as demonstrated by the increase in demand in Madrid (+57%) and Valencia (+35%) during the 9 months to September. It is precisely in Valencia where, in October, TH Real Estate acquired the logistics platform that serves Carrefour.

Meanwhile, in the Spanish capital, Neinver incorporated 40,000 m2 of logistics space into its portfolio, located in an industrial estate in the town of Getafe; and in Zaragoza, Ibercaja sold two warehouses, measuring 15,926 m² and 11,170 m² in PlaZa to Savills Investment Management.

At the international level, one of the most noteworthy operations last month was the purchase of IDI Gazeley by Global Logistics Properties for €2,400 million. The acquisition of Logicor also pushed ahead, for which China Investment will pay €12,250 million, in a deal that has finally been approved by the European Union.

New developments

In terms of new developments, Madrid and the Community of Valencia headed up the leaderboard once again. Mercadona formalised its purchase of a 358,270 m2 plot in Parc Sagunt, where it is going to build its largest logistics centre in Spain, whilst Lar España committed to starting work soon on the construction of its logistics park in the Valencian town of Cheste.

Meanwhile, Inditex plans to expand its facilities in the Alicante town of Elche, where it has a platform dedicated to footwear. In the same way, it plans to open a new centre in Marchamalo, in the Corredor del Henares area, at the end of 2018.

In Madrid, the operator DB Schenker moved and unified the operations of all of its divisions into a new location in Vicálvaro, where the Port Authority of Valencia is considering establishing an intermodal logistics platform.

Meanwhile, Invesco started building new facilities on the Puerta Mayor Los Gavilanes Business Park, in the town of Getafe. In terms of Barcelona, which saw less activity in the logistics market in October, Kiabi announced it is about to start operations at its new centre in La Bisbal de Panadés.

In other geographic regions, the Ministry of Development found a definitive location for the logistics platform in Talavera de la Reina, Toledo. Moreover, the Junta de Andalucía announced that it will spend some of its budget for 2018 on turning the autonomous region into a logistics hub, capable of leveraging the traffic that connects Europe with the North of Africa and America.

Operations involving logistics clients

One of the most important developments undertaken by the business sector in Spain in October was the opening of Elektro 3’s logistics platform in Tarragona, with a surface area of 16,000 m2, and of Covestro’s platform in the same province. Moreover, the Construction Platform was opened in the Madrilenian town of Pinto, spanning 33,000 m2 and the equivalent version was opened in Froiz, Vigo, measuring 1,700 m2.

Construction work also started at Berlys’ new plant for frozen products in the Navarran town of Tajonar as well as on the plant for Frutas E. Sánchez in Mercamadrid, which will be operative from Q1 2018 and November 2018, respectively.

In this context, the spare parts distributor Diesel Technic announced that it will move its warehouse from Alcalá de Henares to the Casablanca II de Rockspring platform in Torrejón de Ardoz; and the Zaragoza-based company Casa Matachín said that is planning to invest €21 million on the construction of a logistics platform in PlaZa.

Original story: Cadena de Suministro

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Acquires Three New Properties In Spain

14 January 2015 – El Mundo

Merlin has acquired an office building in Barcelona and two logistics warehouses in Getafe and Vitoria.

As a result of these transactions, the Socimi’s gross rentable area exceeds 680,000 square metres.

The Socimi Merlin Properties, one of the leading real estate companies listed on the Spanish stock exchange, which specialises in the acquisition and management of tertiary assets in the Iberian peninsular, has announced that it completed the purchase of three new assets in December. It spent €88.4 million on the acquisitions, which will generate rental income of €5.9 million, taking the total annual gross rental income the company generates from its portfolio of assets to more than €128.8 million.

The first acquisition involved an office building in Barcelona, number 8 of the WTCAP, which it bought for €36.5 million. This represents the second purchase made by the company in the landmark business park, following its acquisition of the building at number 6 in August. Number 8 has a gross leasable area of 14,543 square metres, plus 700 sqm of storage and 247 parking spaces.

The building in the WTCAP is partially leased to multi-national companies such as Panasonic, Technip and Colt Telecom. The acquisition price represents an initial gross rental yield of 5.6% (4.8% net) and the property has high growth potential, through the rental of its unoccupied surface area (equivalent to 35% of the total leasable area). If the building were fully occupied, the rental yield of the property would exceed 8%.

Meanwhile, Merlin Properties is continuing its commitment to logistics and industrial assets, where it now has a gross leasable area under management of more than 136,000 square metres. In December 2014, it bought a logistics warehouse measuring 16,242 square metres, located in the CLA in Getafe (Madrid), which is leased to the Galician logistics company Transportes Souto under a 10-year contract. The acquisition price (€12.5 million) represents a gross and net rental yield of 8.4%.

Finally, Merlin has also acquired a logistics warehouse measuring 72,717 square metres in Vitoria, located in the Júndiz business park, which is renowned for its excellent transport connections and for housing the only Mercedes Benz factory in Spain. The park is also home to several other prestigious companies, including Correos, DHL, DB Schenker, Azkar (Dascher) and Adif. The warehouse is leased under a 10-year contract to the well-known multi-national logistics company Norbert Dentressangle. The acquisition price (€28.58 million) represents a gross and net rental yield of 9.6%.

As a result of these three transactions, Merlin Properties’ real estate portfolio now has a total gross leasable area of more than 680,000 square metres and generates gross annual rental income of €128.8 million.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake