The total project will be Italy’s largest new logistics park, with phase 1 totalling 5.5 mln sq ft (515,000 sq m).

The first two buildings were immediately pre-let to a top global luxury brands retailer in 2019, with long term leases for a new global distribution hub totalling 1,750,000 million sq ft (162,000 sq m). Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, construction was completed by July 2020.

European investment circles will take note because the development in the province of Novara to the west of Greater Milan is recognised as a landmark European logistics project in terms of size, environmental standards and timing, given the recent global pandemic.

The acquisition price is not being disclosed by the parties to the transaction or advisors. All that is known is that LCP’s investment commitment into the development of the overall park amounts to several hundred million euros.

LCP is a London-based pan-European logistics development and asset management platform, which picked Trecate as the location for the giant hub due to its proximity to Milan and its location on the Turin-Milan-Venice corridor. The company had already completed projects in Italy including Vercelli and Torrazza for Amazon.

Andrea Benvenuti, managing director development and construction at LCP, said, ‘Due to the very tight timelines and the advanced technicalities of the project, it was a real development challenge to all the teams involved at LCP, our preeminent retail customer, XPO, the architects at Blossom Avenue, and our construction partner, Techbau.’

Top spec

LCP Trecate XXL is regarded as one of Europe’s most advanced logistics projects in terms of limiting the environmental impact. It is set to rank as one of the most environmentally energy efficient buildings in Europe, with LEED Platinum certification – the highest available rating, and its advanced specifications include one of Europe’s largest solar roof systems, and other aspects such as geothermal source heat pumps.

James Markby, managing director at LCP, said, ‘The quality and advanced energy specifications of the project have been recognised by DWS, who have been an excellent purchaser throughout this process, and during a historically challenging period.’

He added, ‘A huge amount of work and collaboration with all our project partners has achieved this outstanding result. We would also like to thank our equity partners at Invesco, banking partners at Natixis, Chiomenti our lawyers, and CBRE who acted on our behalf to help realise this sale.’

'With this acquisition we have added a property of the highest standards which further enhances the size and quality of our growing Italian logistics portfolio, demonstrating our focus on investment properties with market leading environmental and sustainability attributes,' said Ronen Ribak, head of real estate transactions, Europe for DWS.

Matthias Naumann, CIO of real estate in Europe added: 'Along with the strong tenant profile and general logistics market fundamentals, it presents an attractive investment opportunity for our fund.'

For the rest of the site, LCP still has the ability to immediately develop a third building, totalling a further 600,000 sq ft (55,000 sq m), and LCP also now controls additional adjoining land which will be developed out in subsequent phases to add to the park and scale.

Kristof Verstraeten, managing director at LCP, said the Trecate XXL project was a perfect illustration of LCP’s platform and capabilities across 7 countries. ‘We have just started a further 1.7 mln sq ft (162,000 sq m) pre let project near Bergamo, and continue our growth with an additional 14 mln sq ft (1.3 mln sq m) of new construction projects to be launched and announced in the coming year.’

LCP is one of the largest developers of logistics space in Europe.

It was founded by Markby, Verstraeten, and Benvenuti in 2015.

It has offices and projects in Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK, Luxembourg, and Spain, and with relationships and projects on behalf of corporate occupier clients including Amazon, Kering, XPO, and Primark.