Investors searching for scarce prime, sustainable logistics real estate product in Europe have a new name – Log4Real - to add to their shortlist of potential suppliers.
Log4Real, a German industrial and logistics developer, plans a multi-billion pan-European investment programme to develop 3 million m2 of a 'new class of sustainable energy warehouses'.
Funded by the deep financial resources of the company's majority owner, Germany's Zech Group, the ambitious development drive for 50,000 m2 multi-tenant schemes mounts a direct challenge to the current leaders in European logistics development, such as Goodman and Prologis.
'We aim for a top 3 position in Europe within 3-5 years,' Log4Real CEO Christian Bischoff told PropertyEU in an interview. Bischoff is a 20-year logistics veteran. Prior to founding Log4Real in 2012, Bischoff was managing director and regional head for Northern Europe at Prologis.
The projects will be developed on brownfield sites in 16 of the 24 top European logistics hotspots identified by CBRE in its logistics research. The development drive equates to 400 soccer fields of development across Log4Real's three business regions: Germany, CEE, the Benelux and the Nordics. A 30-hectare site has been acquired near Vienna Airport, with the acquisition of a site in the Netherlands to follow shortly.
Log4Real’s key selling point, Bischoff said, is its focus on cutting-edge sustainable technologies, including heating and cooling. ‘The industrial and logistics real estate market has not kept pace with the technological and sustainable innovation already adopted in other sectors, such as offices and retail,’ he explained.
The plan calls for 800,000 m2 of development in 2017, 1 million m2 in 2018 and 1.2 million m2 in 2019. The average investment volume will range from €30 mln to €120 mln. He suggested steep reductions in energy costs will translate directly into ‘highly competitive’ rents. The assets will appeal to both specialist logistics investors and investors in sustainability assets, Bischoff said.
