Tag: logistics market

Valencia’s Logistics Market will Incorporate 6+ New Platforms in 2019

14 May 2019 – Valencia Plaza

The logistics real estate sector in Valencia is on a roll. At least that is according to a study conducted by Triangle Real Estate Management, which highlights the plentiful supply in the province, in particular in the Riba-Roja and Cheste areas.

Construction is currently underway on three new logistics platforms, spanning 53,000 m2 in total, in the town of Riba-Roja, which are expected to be completed in Q3 2019. Moreover, work has already been finished this year on three other logistics properties in Paterna, Torrent and Loriguilla, with a combined surface area of 40,000 m2.

In addition, there are eight other projects in the pipeline to build turnkey properties, spanning a total surface area of 261,123 m2, which will be ready 9-12 months after they have been signed.

Stock of properties

On the other hand, the report details that the total stock of properties available for storage in the Valencia area spans a surface area of more than 2.5 million m2, of which 60% is located in the Valencia Logistics Corridor, comprising the municipalities of Riba-Roja, Loriguilla and Cheste. However, most of the available surface areas are “old, small properties”.

Land under development

The Valencian logistics market also has 6 million m2 of land available for development, in other words, land that is buildable and classified as industrial but pending the completion of one or more urban planning procedure. 75% of that land will be developed over the long-term, in other words, in more than 5 years time.

Rental prices

Market prices have risen in recent months due to the shortage of supply. Asking prices in the prime areas along the A-3 (Riba-Roja, Cheste, Loriguilla and Quart de Poblet) amount to €4.5/m2/month, compared with €4.25/m2/month in the area around the Ford Almussafes factory and €3.75/m2/month in secondary areas and places such as Sagunt.

Original story: Valencia Plaza (by Begoña Torres)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Savills: Logistics Leasing in Madrid Rose by 2% in 2018 to Exceed 935,000 m2

14 January 2019 – Savills Aguirre Newman

The logistics market in Madrid has registered a new leasing record. The boost from e-commerce has been the main driver behind the absorption of 935,000 m2 of space in 2018, which represents an increase of 2% with respect to the historical record figure in 2017, according to data from Savills Aguirre Newman.

During the last quarter, 23 operations were signed involving more than 300,000 m2 of space, compared with 24 operations and 308,000 m2 of space during the same period in 2017. During the year as a whole, 77 operations were registered in 2018, compared with 70 during the previous year. It is worth highlighting the importance of the cross-docking activity during 2018, where seven operations were closed.

In terms of rental prices, the €8/m2/month peak that established the annual maximum was recorded at T4 (Airport) in Barajas. Excluding that figure, due to the uniqueness of the Barajas market, maximum rents exceeded €6/m2/month in a cross-docking operation in San Fernando de Henares. The incorporation of new high-quality projects that are adapted to the requirements and expectations of the operators have favoured an increase in prime rents to €5.5/m2/month (+7% YoY).

In terms of the size of the operations, almost 50% of the space leased during the last quarter of the year was concentrated into four operations spanning more than 30,000 m2 each, all of which were signed in the third ring.

By area, the distribution of the surface area leased between October and December was very homogeneous, with 55% and 45% registered in the Corredor del Henares and the southern area, respectively, although the Corredor del Henares continued to capture the most demand. The distribution in terms of the number of operations clearly showed the superiority of Corredor del Henares, which accounted for 70% of all activity (16 operations).

The annual analysis by area reveals a similar picture. The volume of surface area leased was very similar (>495,000 m2 in Corredor del Henares and >408,000 m2 in the southern area), but by number of operations, Corredor del Henares again accounted for the bulk of activity (48 operations versus 22 in the south).

Activity in the land market is continuing to gain weight. During 2018, 34 operations were signed in total spanning 1,800,000 m2 (+60% YoY). It is worth highlighting the three areas that accounted for almost 50% of the land surface area operations: Guadalajara (>350,000 m² in 2 operations), Illescas (>326,000 m² in 4 operations) and Torija (>279,000 m² in 4 operations).

The year closed with an availability rate of 6.9%, which represents a decrease of almost two points with respect to 2017. During 2018, more than 650,000 m2 of space was incorporated into the market, of which 67% was already committed. The future supply for 2019 will exceed 1,500,000 m2, of which 30% already have pre-rental contracts.

The dynamism in the market for users of the logistics sector during 2018 has been reflected in the investment market, with 45 operations exceeding €1.3 billion. Those figures mark new records in the historical ranking. The number of transactions involving individual assets stood out since it exceeded the figure recorded in 2017 by three times.

Original story: Savills Aguirre Newman 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Pelayo Capital to Create a New Breogán Park with an Investment of >€60M

15 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Pelayo Capital is throwing itself into the Spanish retail sector during its second year of life. The Galician family office, which is currently working on the conversion of the Dolce Vita shopping centre in A Coruña into a retail park, is planning to replicate the project in other Spanish cities with an investment of more than €90 million, according to Íñigo Veiga, CEO of the company, speaking to EjePrime.

Similarly, the group wants to add high street stores to its portfolio of assets during the course of this year. In this sense, Pelayo Capital is on the hunt for properties located in Madrid, Galicia and Asturias, in particular, in which it plans to invest at least €1 million. “We are not ruling out other cities either, given that our strategy involves working hand in hand with retailers”, said the director.

Breogán Park is the company’s star project, an asset in which the company is going to invest €60 million and which will be inaugurated in the spring of 2021. It is the first project undertaken in Spain to involve the demolition and conversion of a shopping centre into a retail park. “The initiative that takes advantage of the demand for these types of assets in many cities around the country”, said the executive.

The surface area, spanning 45,000 m2, will have 2,500 parking spaces and used to house the Dolce Vita shopping complex until 2014. “It is a great opportunity to build a retail park in A Coruña; we are not going to find any others because there is no land available in the city on which to build a retail park of this size”, explained Veiga.

Pelayo Capital is looking for ways to handle the maturity of shopping centres and the boom in e-commerce in Spain by committing itself to retail parks and commercial premises located on the most prime streets. For this reason, the company has just purchased its first asset at number 103 Calle Hermosilla in Madrid, revealed the director.

“We do not have an investment objective or commitment, because we believe that pressure can lead to errors”, explained Veiga. Saddled between Galicia and Madrid, Pelayo Capital has the support of investors with different profiles and is not averse to the idea of backing the logistics or residential markets in the long term.

The company was created in 2017 hand in hand with Breogán Park, a project that launched it into the midst of the Spanish real estate sector. Although it is also working on the rehabilitation of a residential building in A Coruña, Pelayo Capital has placed its focus on retail and for that reason, it has hired Luis Íñiguez, former director of JLL’s retail division in Spain, as senior advisor to the company.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Berta Seijo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

German Fund Manager Aquila Capital Launches its own Property Developer in Spain

1 August 2018 – El Economista

The German fund manager, Aquila Capital, is demonstrating its commitment to Spanish property by launching a new property developer called AQ Acentor.

Until now, the firm has worked in Spain by delegating its development activities and in partnership with other real estate companies such as Inmoglacier, with which it has undertaken several projects. “The strategic partnership with the property developer has been positive and has resulted in the construction of three successful real estate developments, which have contributed to Aquila Capital’s expansion plans in the Spanish market under its own brand, AQ Acentor”, explains Sven Schoel, CEO of the German manager in Spain.

Aquila has been operating in Spain since 2014, focusing its business on the real estate sector, with projects worth more than €800 million. With the creation of this new brand, the firm has incorporated a management team to boost growth through in-house development.

AQ Acentor has been created with more than 3,000 new homes under construction, of which around 500 will be handed over during the course of this year. Currently, the firm is working on residential projects in metropolitan areas, primarily in Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and Valencia.

“The company has a multidisciplinary team comprising more than 40 professionals located in offices in Madrid, Barcelona and Málaga”, explain sources at the firm.

“The creation of AQ Acentor responds to our firm commitment to the Spanish market and is backed by a pipeline amounting to €1 billion over the next five years”, specifies Schoel.

The manager is also present in the logistics market in Spain, one of the other real estate segments that is experiencing a boom, besides the residential segment. In that case, it has launched an investment plan amounting to between €350 million and €400 million for the Iberian Peninsula and Italy.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Savills Aguirre Newman: Logistics Investment Fell by 17% in H1 2018 to €400M

31 July 2018 – Europa Press

The volume of investment in the Spanish logistics market amounted to €400 million during the first half of the year, down by 17% with respect to the same period in 2017, when the figure amounted to €490 million, according to figures compiled by Savills Aguirre Newman for its report entitled “The Logistics Market in Madrid and Barcelona, H1 2018”.

The entity explained that the decrease is due not to a reduction in investor appetite, but rather to a shortage of available supply in the main markets (Madrid and Barcelona), which is placing the focus of investors on secondary markets (Valencia, Zaragoza and Sevilla).

The initial yield for prime assets remains at around 6%, although for certain operations it has decreased to 5.5%.

In Madrid, according to the report, during the first half of the year, demand in terms of the leasing of logistics space was 17% higher than during the same period last year, with 451,000 m2 of space leased through 36 operations during H1 2018, compared with 387,000 m2 in the same period in 2017.

Four of the operations undertaken in Madrid, exceeding 20,000 m2 each, accounted for 48% of the total space leased. Activity in the Spanish capital was concentrated in Corredor de Henares, where 11 operations were closed, accounting for more than 118,000 m2 of the space leased (52% of the total).

In terms of the land market in Madrid, the report details that six operations were registered, accounting for a volume of more than 280,000 m2 altogether; one purchase stood out, in particular, spanning more than 95,000 m2, in Alcalá de Henares.

On the other hand, during the same period, 390,678 m2 of space was leased in the logistics market in Barcelona. Savills Aguirre Newman highlights the operation to lease a 48,000 m2 warehouse by Vente Privee.

During the first half of the year, 36 transactions were recorded in Barcelona in total, compared with 22 in 2017. One of the trends that has become clear is the projects being developed in the Logistics Activities Zone (ZAL), one of which involves a warehouse measuring 20,500 m2.

Moreover, a total of eight operations exceeding 20,000 m2 were closed, of which five were completed in the second quarter.

Original story: Europa Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

A Spanish Socimi Debuts on the Paris Stock Market to Avoid the MAB’s Requirements

26 July 2018 – Idealista

Some of Spain’s Socimis are looking beyond the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in search of visibility, prestige…and one or more regulatory benefits. Logis Confort, the Socimi owned by the Valencian property developer and construction firm CV Grupo, has become the first in Spain to list on the Euronext exchange.

The company made its debut on the stock market headquartered in Paris on 13 July, at a price of €2.20 per share and a market capitalisation of more than €11 million; its portfolio comprises seven assets. Together its assets span a surface area of 23,521 m2 and are worth around €15 million, according to Gesvalt’s calculations.

Logis Confort is dedicated to the rental of industrial and logistics buildings. Founded in 2001 by Salvador Vila Arcos, the owner of CV Grupo (which specialises in building and leasing industrial warehouses and spaces), the company adopted the Socimi structure in August 2016. The firm, which has been advised by Armanext (the largest Spanish advisor in taking Socimis to the European stock market) has its headquarters in San Fernando de Henares, in Madrid.

The company is currently working on medium- and long-term projects and its aim is the acquisition of buildings, through purchase or development, in areas “with a great industrial tradition and close to large Spanish cities, to transfer them for rent”, according to the firm. The group’s shareholders include Salvador Vila Arcos, who owns 50% of the capital; Edelmiro Copoví, who owns 25%; and his brother José Manuel Copoví, who owns the remaining 25%.

The company’s shareholder structure is, precisely, one of the features that draws the most attention. Since it does not have any minority shareholders, the vehicle cannot trade on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) where all of Spain’s other Socimis are listed, with the exception of the largest, which trade on the traditional stock market. It was just a year ago, when the manager of the market decided to tighten up the rules and, since then, it has forced these types of companies to have a minimum quantity of minority shareholders to approve their stock market debuts (…).

Therefore, since it did not have any minority shareholders, it soon became clear that the Socimi would have to undertake the operation on another European market. And Euronext is the one that establishes the fewest requirements in this regard, specifically the market called Euronext Access (there is another one called ‘Growth’, which establishes more onerous requirements). As such, it was chosen for the firm’s stock market debut to allow it to maintain the tax benefits that are afforded to Socimis (…).

Logis’s portfolio

Logis Confort has a portfolio of assets comprising seven industrial properties and several parking lots in Madrid and Valencia, two markets that are being boosted by the improvement in the economy, the recovery in exports, domestic consumption and e-commerce. By market value and surface area, the jewel in Logis Confort’s crown is the logistics warehouse located in Picassent, in Valencia, which spans 11,800 m2 and has a market value of €8 million. That property is leased to Facil Europe and Transfesa.

Also in Valencia, the Socimi owns assets in Almussafers and Ribarroja, which together have a market value of €6 million and span an industrial space of more than 10,700 m2. In Madrid, the company owns a logistics property in San Fernando de Henares, leased to Transecort Logistics, which has a market price of less than €1 million (…).

Original story: Idealista (by Custodio Pareja and Ana P. Alarcos)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Logistics Crowns: From Madrid’s M-40 to the Port of Barcelona

24 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Madrid and Barcelona are the kings of Spain and their crowns attest to that fact. The two largest cities in the country are surrounded by three rings that, in addition to accounting for most of the country’s logistics traffic, provide clear answers to the three main questions being asked in the sector: what, how many and how are products demanded. The first ring is a testament to the strength of last mile delivery driven by e-commerce; in the second ring, a large proportion of products are stored on rotation; however,  the third ring, where the largest warehouses are located, saw the most space leased last year.

In general terms, 2017 was a record year for the logistics markets in Madrid and Barcelona. Together, both cities signed rental operations for space spanning more than 1.2 million m2, which represented an increase of 12% with respect to the figure from the previous year and the best result in the last decade, according to the Logistics – The revolution of a booming market report, compiled by the consultancy firm JLL.

The reasons for this boom in terms of transport and storage stem from the strong performance of the Spanish economy and, more specifically, the boom in e-commerce, which is starting to change the way the logistics market operates, in the knowledge that, over the next few years, demand for urban space to handle online purchases is going to double.

Madrid was the Spanish city that saw most evidence of the strong performance of the sector last year. In the county’s capital, 800,000 m2 of logistics space was leased in 2017, with 64 operations signed (21 more than in the previous year), twice as much as in 2016. This increase in the absorption of space was spread across the three rings that surround the autonomous region and the neighbouring provinces of the adjacent region of Castilla-La Mancha.

In the first ring, the M-40 and the M-50 account for most of the activity, with a high rotation of stock due to the last mile effect. In that enclave, towns such as Alcobendas, Barajas (with high demand due to its proximity to the airport), Coslada, San Sebastián de los Reyes and San Fernando de Henares all stand out. In addition, in this area, but closer to the capital, Vicálvaro and Getafe to the north and south, respectively, are also key locations.

The M-50 is in an intermediate point, which on its way out of Madrid has important places for storage and logistics distribution. With an average rotation rate, a large number of the warehouses whose markets have a regional reach are located in Fuenlabrada, Valdemoro, Alcalá de Henares and Torrejón de Ardoz, amongst other towns.

Amazon, from Toledo to the centre of Madrid

For buyers in the centre of Madrid to receive packages purchased on Amazon in a matter of hours, the second ring is fundamental. The e-commerce giant has set up shop in the Toledan town of Illescas, where it leased 103,000 m2 of space to store the immense volume of stock that it must have available for rapid distribution all over the Spanish capital.

Nevertheless, the ring that absorbs even more space of the so-called central area of the country is the third ring, accounting for 39% of the surface area leased last year. There, Leroy Merlin leased 60,000 m2 of space, after moving into the Meco Industrial Estate. At a distance of between 30km and 60km from Madrid, large warehouses serve as storage for operators who have lower stock rotation and an area of influence that normally spans the domestic sphere. In addition to Meco, in this space, towns such as Azuqueca de Henares, Seseña, Alovera and Ontígola stand out, amongst others.

The Port and El Prat: the key points in Cataluña’s logistics market

In Barcelona, the epicentre of the logistics centre is divided in two: the Port and El Prat. Both are located in the first ring of the Catalan capital and serve as hubs for intermodal and high stock rotation operations, according to the report from JLL. The international consultancy firm explains that this ring is the gateway to southern Europe for goods coming from the Far East and Southeast Asia, which means covering the whole Mediterranean Arc from this point.

There, cross-docking and freight activities that facilitate last mile delivery dominate. The Zona Franca and its logistics park, the air cargo centre at El Prat, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Viladecans and Mas Blau are some of the enclaves that are home to the first ring market.

Nevertheless, and despite the e-commerce boom, it was in the second ring around Barcelona where most logistics space was leased last year. That area was home to 55% of the 460,000 m2 total surface area leased in the Catalan capital, which represented a drop of 30% with respect to 2016.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Jabier Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Savills Aguirre Newman: Inv’t in Logistics Assets Exceeded €1.5bn in 2017

15 February 2018 – Expansión

Real estate investment in logistics assets exceeded €1.5 billion in 2017, up by 86% compared to the previous year. That figure includes the corporate operation involving Logicor.

The boom in e-commerce, combined with their attractive returns, have placed logistics assets in the spotlight for real estate investors. In this way, last year, the purchase of these types of properties reached a record-breaking €1.5 billion, according to the consultancy firm Savills Aguirre Newman.

That disbursement represents an increase of 86% compared to the previous year and is the highest figure ever recorded for these types of properties in the Spanish market. Nevertheless, the amount does include the corporate operation carried out by Blackstone. The US fund divested its logistics subsidiary, owner of 147 million m2 of space across 17 countries (including in Spain) to China Investment for €12.25 billion.

In the last three months of the year alone, investment in these types of assets exceeded €200 million.

Unlike other types of properties, such as offices, interest in these assets extends beyond Madrid and Barcelona. “The consolidation of economic growth and the gradual improvement in the fundamentals of the logistics market (demand, availability and rental prices) has continued to drive investment in the sector, which, due to the shortage of supply in Madrid and Barcelona, has shifted its interest to secondary markets, such as Zaragoza and Valencia”, say sources at the consultancy firm.

The large operations of the year included P3’s purchase of GreenOak’s portfolio for €243 million.

In fact, the high degree of interest has caused many investors to back the purchase of plots of logistics land for their subsequent development. “Operations involving logistics land, for the development of turnkey and at-risk projects, have become one of the cornerstones of the market. The high demand for space, combined with the shortage of finished products suitable for the requirements of specific demand, is generating a lot of interest in this product”, explain sources at Savills Aguirre Newman.

The boom in operations has already had an impact on the returns offered by these types of properties. “The initial rate of return for the most prime assets was below 6%, but during the course of the year, for some specific operations, the rate amounted to 5.5%, which means that the gentle upwards trend already observed in previous years is being maintained”.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aguirre Newman: Inv’t In Logistics Sector Amounted To €230M In Q1

10 May 2017 – Aguirre Newman

According to the Q1 Logistics Market Monitor Report for Madrid and Barcelona compiled by Aguirre Newman, the volume of investment in the logistics market amounted to €230 million during the first quarter of 2017, compared with €135 million in the same period in 2016, which represents an increase of 70.4%.

The leasing of logistics space in Madrid and Barcelona amounted to 251,866 m2, involving 29 operations, with a maximum rent of €6/m2/month during the quarter.

Madrid 

In Madrid, demand for logistics space exceeded 127,703 m2, which meant that the amount contracted in Q1 2017 represented 31.5% of the total amount leased in 2016.

The higher volume of activity was also reflected in the number of operations, which was 56% higher than in Q1 2016 (9 operations vs. 16). Of the 16 operations closed in Q1 2017, three accounted for 57% of the total space leased, with a surface area of more than 10,000 m2 each.

With respect to rental income, the maximum rent was €6/m2/month, in an operation in the CTM in Madrid. Besides that one-off operation, rents in the prime area remained in the region of €5/m2/month to €5.5/m2/month.

According to the report from Aguirre Newman, regarding the investment market, there is still a considerable amount of interest in the logistics market, with operations closed in the main logistics markets (Madrid and Cataluña) as well as in other secondary markets, such as Pamplona, during the quarter. In terms of yields, they amount to just under 6% for certain prime assets.

Barcelona 

Meanwhile, in Barcelona, the leasing of logistics space during the first quarter exceeded 124,163 m2, which represented an increase of 40% compared to the same period in 2016. The number of operations closed during the period rose to 13, of which three stood out for involving spaces larger than 10,000 m2 and for together accounting for 68% of the total space leased.

Aguirre Newman’s report highlights that the logistics investment market in Barcelona and its area of influence is still very attractive for investors.

Original story: Aguirre Newman

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aragón Creates Logistics Group To Unify Sale Of 240 Ha

6 April 2017 – El Periódico de Aragón

Land covering 2,400,000 m2 (240 hectares) in total, a surface area that resembles the Zaragoza neighbourhood of Delicias. That is the volume of land that Aragón Plataforma Logística (APL), the new public company being created by the regional government, is going to sell. The objectives of the future company APL will be to unify the management, promotion and sale of assets that are currently owned by a variety of regional companies.

Specifically, it will group together three large industrial estates in Zaragoza (Plaza), Huesca (Plhus) and Teruel (Platea), as well as Zaragoza Expo Empresarial, la Sociedad para el Desarrollo de Calamocha (Sodecasa) and Plaza Desarrollos Logísticos (PDL, the property developer behind Caladero). With this supply of spaces, to which the Fraga platform (Plfraga) will likely be added soon, the region is looking to strengthen its position as the largest logistics market in the south of Europe.

APL, which should be constituted within the next few weeks through a decree, will be entirely owned by the regional government, specifically, the Corporación Empresarial Pública de Aragón, which will own 100%. The new management team at the Government of Aragón is seeking to optimise and streamline the operation of logistics, industrial and tertiary assets at all levels. (…).

The logistics sector accounts for 5.5% of the region’s GDP and has secured private investment amounting to more than €3,000 million since 2005 when the first phase of Plaza was launched. (…).

Original story: El Periódico de Aragón (by Jorge Heras Pastor)

Translation: Carmel Drake