Asset manager Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate has acquired two under-construction logistics assets in Germany.
The deal was finalised in mid-March, around the time lockdown measures to combat the spread of coronavirus were being rolled out in parts of Europe. Financial details and the identity of the seller were not disclosed.
Located in Saarland and in the Rhine-Main region, the buildings are the first logistics properties Warburg-HIH has acquired for its fund, Warburg-HIH Deutschland Logistik Invest, which has so far raised more than €100 mln of its €250 mln equity cap.
The single-tenant property in Saarland, which is due to complete this month, provides about 18,100 m2 and more than 1,300 m2 of office space. It is fully occupied on a long-term lease.
The second acquisition will be a delivery centre in the Frankfurt metro area, close to Europe’s biggest freight airport in Europe. Comprising around 15,000 m2 and 2,700 m2 of office space, it is let to multiple tenants.
Lars Bothe, senior transaction manager at Warburg-HIH Invest, said: ‘The ongoing coronavirus crisis has increased popular acceptance of e-commerce, and will boost its growth in the long term.
‘In addition, we are expecting to see a trend toward changed supply chains, especially of system and production-relevant goods that will roll back the off-shoring to Asia and prompt increased on-shoring in Germany, resulting in growing demand for logistics accommodation in Germany. The logistics real estate sector stands to benefit from the trend accordingly.’
