Clarion Partners Europe (“Clarion”), the real estate investment fund manager specialising in logistics and industrial assets, has acquired, on behalf of one of its comingled funds, two Grade-A distribution warehouses in Germany from funds advised by Ekistics Property Advisors LLP (“Ekistics”).
In Fritzlar, near Kassel, Clarion has acquired a 50,000 sqm institutional quality logistics asset. Completed at the end of 2019, the DGNB Gold certified property features 20 dock doors, 10 metre clear heights and 336 car parking spaces. It is leased to Volkswagen AG and serves a key role in its pan-European supply chain.
Fritzlar is strategically located 25km southwest of Kassel. Benefitting from its central location on the Hamburg-Frankfurt axis, the property offers excellent connectivity via the A49 motorway and B450, with the A7, Germany’s key north-south arterial route, 15 minutes’ drive time from the asset.
In Walsrode, near Hanover, Clarion has acquired a 55,000 sqm generic, institutional quality warehouse. Completed at the end of 2019, the asset features 12 metre clear heights, 64 dock doors and 283 car parking spaces. Suitable for single or multi-tenant use, it is 100% let to Smyths Toys, one of Europe’s leading multi-channel retailers.
Walsrode is situated at the centre of northern Germany’s main economic cluster, the Bremen-Hamburg-Hanover triangle, home to 12 million people and the country’s two largest ports, Hamburg and Bremerhaven. The property occupies a recently developed logistics park which connects directly to the A27, with the seaports of Bremen, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven all within 1.5 hours drive time, whilst the A7 can be accessed in 10 minutes.
Both assets were originally purchased by Ekistics with the support of a local partner, Flos Capital Real Estate AG (“Flos Capital”), in an off-market forward funding transaction in 2019.
Thorben Schaefer, Director of Clarion Partners Europe, commented:
“Adding these modern and sustainable properties, in strategically relevant locations and let to extremely strong counterparties, significantly strengthens our footprint in what is Europe’s most exciting logistics market. Both are tenant-critical assets serving as major distribution hubs and demonstrate our proven ability to originate and execute on investments despite increasing competition from different capital sources for exposure to the sector.”
Clarion was advised by DLA Piper on legal and CBRE on technical/ environmental. Ekistics was advised by BNP Paribas and Flos Capital on sale, and CMS on legal.
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