Belgian-listed logistics developer Montea is investing €20.1 mln in a new climate-friendly distribution centre at the Blue Gate industrial park in Antwerp.
The Antwerp-based logistics company Herfurth will establish its HQ in the new facility. The 9,000 m2 warehouse and 2,000 m2 of office space will be ready by autumn 2024.
Antwerp fashion house Dries Van Noten will occupy a dedicated unit featuring 4,000 m2 of warehouse space and 800 m2 of office space.
Both Herfurth and Dries Van Noten have signed long-term lease agreements and the anticipated net initial yield amounts to 6.5%. Notably, the agreement with Dries Van Noten was brokered by Ceusters.
Sustainability is at the core of the new distribution centre which will generate more clean energy than it consumes. The entire building complex will be heated using heat pumps, eliminating the need for a traditional gas connection. Montea is installing solar panels with a capacity of 1.1 MWp, generating enough clean energy to power 425 families annually.
Dirk Van Buggenhout, CSO at Montea, said: ‘During the design process, the ecological footprint of the building is minimized, and the choice of building materials is kept to a minimum. That is done here, among other things, by making the construction of the office incross-laminated timber (CLT). For the roof, we use low-carbon steel plates and integrate energy-performing façade panels. The combination of all these efforts is fairly unique in our sector, resulting in a Zero Emission Building (ZEB).’
Xavier Van Reeth, country director Belgium at Montea, added: ‘Significantly reducing the number of trucks in the city should be one of our industry's priorities, and it’s something we are fully committed to. Investing in sites on logistics business parks like Blue Gate in Antwerp - which is also close to the city centre - makes perfect sense. Here you can pursue multimodal connections with cargo bikes and electric vans, meeting the new logistics needs of tomorrow.’
This new distribution centre follows earlier projects for Amazon and DHL at the Blue Gate industrial park. The development of Blue Gate itself is a collaborative effort between DEME Environmental Contractors (DEC), PMV, AG Vespa, Bopro, and Montea, transforming a former industrial site into a circular business park.
