ProLogis plans to invest €450m in UK distribution centres
UK, ProLogis plans to spend up€450m on developing 330,000 square
meters of additional capacity over the next three years.
The company this week said it had purchased three sites of undeveloped land in the East and West Midlands, the UK's primary area for distribution and logistics.The land was acquired through the company's purchase of Severn Trent Property, said US-basedProLogis.
"Maintaining a long-term pipeline of developable land is a critical success factor in the UK industrial development business, given the general shortage of supply here and continued robust demand from customers for high-quality, well-locatedfacilities," said Alan Curtis, ProLogis managing director and head of the company's UKoperations. "Through this transaction, we have added substantially to our land position in the country's most important submarket."
The Severn Trent portfolio includes development sites at three major industrial locations.Curtis says the company will spend about about $575m (€450m) developing the sites over the nextthree years.
"All three of these sites are prime distribution locations," said Curtis. "Each offers excellent access to key motorway junctions, and all have undergone extensive planning and entitlement work prior to closing. In short, they present a unique opportunity for ProLogis to enhance its UK industrial platform and further extend its leadership position in this market."
One is an 84-acre property at Midpoint Park, near Birmingham and adjacent to an existing industrial project. The parcel can supportabout 111,000 square meters of warehouse development.
A second 131-acre site at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal is located in the East Midlands adjacent to an existing business park. The site, which includes an intermodal rail facility, can support about 181,000 square meters of industrial development.
The third site is located at Coton Park, a 26-acre parcel in the East Midlands adjacent to an existing ProLogis industrial project. The site can supportabout 34,000 square meters of new development.
ProLogis claims to be the world's largest owner, manager and developer of distribution facilities.The company develops and manages distribution facilities in 81 markets across North America, Europe and Asia. The company has $25.3bn of assets owned, managed and under development,made up of 37.8m square meters of industrial space at 2,406 properties.
Arthur Hodges, the company's senior director of corporate communications, toldFoodProductionDaily.com that ProLogis' primary customers tend to be manufacturers, retailers and third-party logisticsproviders and include companies such as Ahold, Sara Lee, Safeway, Tesco and Kraft.
" Demand is driven by their need to reconfigure their distribution networks in a way that delivers maximum logistical efficiency, while maintaining high levels of customerservice," he said.
ProLogis has developed about 278,700 sq m a year in the UK since 1998. The company's owns currentinventory includes 148,640 sq m of space used for distribution centres.
Since entering the European market in 1997, ProLogis owns and operates about 6.4m sq m of distribution facilitiesin 28 markets throughout Europe. ProLogis' European headquarters are in Luxembourg and its European customer service operations arein Amsterdam.
