Hines’s flagship Asia-Pacific core-plus real estate fund has expanded into the cold storage sector with an acquisition in Australia.

The global real estate manager’s Hines Asia Property Partners (HAPP) has invested an undisclosed sum to buy an 11,175sqm asset located at 31 Lahrs Road in Ormeau, Queensland.

The latest transaction is the Cadillac Fairview-backed HAPP fund’s seventh industrial and logistics acquisition in Australia and second in Queensland.

The open-ended HAPP is expected to invest across sectors, targeting top-tier markets in Japan, Australia, South Korea, Singapore and China, including Hong Kong. Since 2020, Hines has secured 11 logistics assets in cities in Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

Chiang Ling Ng, Asia CIO at Hines, said: “We are seeing increased demand for the cold storage sector not just in Australia, but across Asia Pacific as consumer appetite continues to shift post-COVID towards online grocery and meal deliveries.

“Investments such as these are vital as economies are recognising the importance of addressing the shortage in supply of reliable refrigerated facilities, particularly for the storage of fresh produce, vaccines and other non-discretionary goods, so Hines is looking forward to bringing our best-in-class global expertise to develop cold-storage spaces like this across Asia-Pacific.”

Alysia Reilly, the head of industrial and logistics for Australia at Hines, said: “The development at Ormeau is a strategic opportunity to capitalise on the current dislocation in supply and demand dynamics, with the latest leasing statistics showing an extremely tight leasing market across the entire East Coast of Australia.”

To read the latest edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.

Topics