Oxford Properties has marked its first direct logistics investment in Europe with the acquisition of a 15-acre site in Heathrow, London.
The C$60bn (€38.4bn) property arm of Canadian pension fund OMERS has acquired the site in partnership with Logistics Capital Partners (LCP).
Oxford Properties said LCP has been retained as investment, asset and development manager for the scheme.
Oxford Properties manages a £4.7bn portfolio of industrial real estate exposure across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. The company has had exposure to European logistics since 2018 and had invested through logistics vehicles with assets in the UK, Germany and France.
Oxford Properties said it plans to deploy £3bn of capital in the European logistics sector over the next five years in platforms and portfolios of scale.
Jo McNamara, head of Europe at Oxford Properties, said: “Logistics continues to be one of our highest conviction strategies globally; we continue to believe in the secular shifts underpinning the sector, including e-commerce penetration and evolving supply chains, that will continue to drive robust occupier demand against a limited supply of prime new space.”
“This demand and supply imbalance for new, prime logistics space is particularly apparent around major cities where there is significant competition from alternative uses.”
James Boadle, head of UK and head of logistics and residential, Europe at Oxford Properties, said the transaction provides an attractive entry point of scale for Oxford’s “first direct European logistics investment, as we look to expand further into the sector over the coming years”.
John Pagdin, head of UK at LCP, said: “These types of prime London logistics development opportunities are indeed rare, particularly in terms of the scale of potential project, and we look forward to bringing forward a best in class scheme – unique in its ability to serve not only London Heathrow Airport with a private dedicated access, but also the west London delivery market.”
James Markby, managing director at LCP, said: “This rare strategic site, with Oxford Properties as a new capital partner, further marks our intentions in the UK.
”It was undertaken during a challenging COVID operating environment, and is a perfect illustration of our platform and capabilities across the seven countries we operate in.”
Markby said LCP continues its growth with an additional 14m sqft of new construction projects to be launched and announced in the coming year.
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