Savills IM’s European urban logistics and industrial fund makes debut deal

Savills Investment Management has acquired a business park in Germany as the first asset for its European urban logistics and industrial fund.

The real estate investment manager has invested an undisclosed sum on behalf of its European Urban Logistics & Industrial Fund (EULIF) to buy the fully-let light industrial park in Essen.

The asset was acquired from a joint venture comprising the Adolf Weber Real Estate and Project Development Company.

The two-building asset, completed in July last year, provides 15,500sqm of lettable space that can be rented separately or combined.

Tim Ulrich, the head of transaction management in Germany at Savills Investment Management, said: “The letting market for light industrial space in the Ruhr region has developed very positively in recent years, with many large companies settling here. There is an imbalance between supply and demand due to the limited availability of space, which has led to dynamic rental price development.

“The development pipeline is limited due to increased financing and construction costs, so almost no space is being developed speculatively. We are very pleased that we were able to secure this high-quality, centrally located, long-term leased property with high third-party usability on behalf of our European Urban Logistics & Industrial Fund.”

Evert Castelein, investment director of European logistics at Savills IM, said: “Savills Investment Management has a strong track record in the European logistics sector.

“The acquisition in Essen further demonstrates our excellent access to the market, which enables us to identify investments that meet our requirements in terms of quality and location.”

Earlier this year, Savills IM launched EULIF and appointed Castelein as senior fund manager to lead the new platform. EULIF targets high-quality urban logistics and light industrial properties in densely populated logistics regions in Europe.

The plan for the new platform involves acquiring and improving both existing as well as developing new assets, Savills IM said at the time of the fund’s launch in January.

Savills IM already has a presence and track record in the European industrial and logistics space. The international real estate investment manager has logistics assets under management of more than €6bn.

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