Hamburg-based investment company Aquila Capital has entered Portugal with a deal to develop 115,000 m2 of logistics properties in Azambuja, 35 km north of Lisbon.
Financial details were not disclosed.
The alternative investment specialist said that construction was expected to begin in early 2020 on the assets, which will carry photovoltaic panels on the roofs, BREEAM certificates and offset CO2 emissions for at least two years.
'Portugal is a highly attractive market for institutional investors looking for established logistics hubs in the eurozone with significant upside potential,' said Rolf Zarnekow, head of real estate at Aquila.
'Given Lisbon’s excellent infrastructure and its status as an access point for international imports into the Iberian Peninsula and Europe as a whole, it is little wonder that the demand for large contiguous, modern logistics space exceeds the offer significantly,' Zarnekow added.
'I am certain that this new site in the established logistics park of Azambuja will offer a valuable new asset for our new Southern European strategy as well as for future tenants and the local community,' said Roman Rosslenbroich, co-founder and CEO of Aquila. 'Furthermore, the focus on the environmental standards that the asset will uphold demonstrates our commitment to sustainability.'
The area in Azambuja is located at an infrastructure hub that is linked to the highway and railway systems, air fright networks as well as the deep-water ports Sines and Lisbon. The transaction follows Aquila's announcement of the development of more than 500,000 m2 green logistics properties in Madrid from early July.
The firm said it had a long logistics track record in Germany, where the group has executed major projects across the country.
