First Industrial Realty Trust, a provider of industrial real estate supply chain solutions, announced on Wednesday it is expanding into the Netherlands and Belgium. The Chicago-based company has hired a new managing director, Jan Scheers, to lead the expansion into these markets.
First Industrial Realty Trust, a provider of industrial real estate supply chain solutions, announced on Wednesday it is expanding into the Netherlands and Belgium. The Chicago-based company has hired a new managing director, Jan Scheers, to lead the expansion into these markets.
First Industrial said that both the Netherlands and Belgium offer significant growth prospects due to rising volumes of containerised cargoes moving through their ports, increasing demand for modern distribution facilities, a rising need for redevelopment in established markets and an emerging trend towards leasing and away from direct ownership on the part of corporate customers.
The company will offer industrial space in key logistics hubs like Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe, and Belgium’s Golden Triangle (Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent) 'to serve growing customer demand for multiple industrial facility types through development, redevelopment and acquisitions,' First Industrial president and chief executive Mike Brennan said in a press release.
New managing director Jan Scheers will be based in Brussels and joins First Industrial from real estate developer and commercial property investor Macquairie Goodman. At Macquairie Goodman, he was managing director for several European countries, responsible for acquisition, development and property management as well as building operations for a new network of offices. Previously, he was their chief operating officer in charge of development for Northern Europe and country manager for Belgium and Germany.
