The change that is happening in the logistics sector is comparable to the Industrial Revolution in pace and scope, as technological innovation and changing consumer demands are driving a radical transformation.
Experts gathered for the PropertyEU 'Future-proof logistics assets' briefing at EXPO REAL on Wednesday agreed that investors must be proactive to mitigate the risk of supply chain disruption.
The demand for assets and the need to be closer to the consumer is also leading to a merging of uses, with retail and even office buildings being used for logistics activities. 'There is a huge hunger for logistics assets, but it is important to choose flexible buildings because it is impossible to tell what technological advances there will be and how demands will change,' said Malte-Maria Munchow, head of acquisitions at Deka Immobilien.
In future the trend will expand to residential, said Andreas Fleischer, business unit director Northern Europe at Segro: 'Soon it will be normal to live above or next door to a logistics centre, it is an inevitable consequence of the need to provide the right product in the right place.' London, for example, in the last few years has lost 50% of its industrial space, turned to residential use, but the rise of logistics might now see that trend reversed.
