Prologis Europe has significantly scaled up its urban offering across the continent with more than a million square meters of core logistics space. On behalf of its open-ended vehicle PELF the company has acquired 128 buildings and 6 developments in key urban gateway locations from last-mile operator Crossbay.

As part of our deliberate investment focus, this transaction addresses key customer needs for quality real estate solutions in infill and highly urban locations. This growth step helps positively boost scale of influence and customer offering in Europe.

Deal facts
The completed transaction:

• Adds more than 1 million square metres to the EU portfolio,
• Was agreed for €1.585 billion,
• Has an 85% core urban overlap 
• Consists of 128 facilities, 6 new developments, in 7 EU countries and totals 1.14 million square metres 

“This acquisition underscores our ongoing ability to provide our customers with quality urban logistics locations and opportunities beyond the real estate near highly populated areas that serve their growth needs,” says Ben Bannatyne, President, Prologis Europe. “With the ongoing growth of e-commerce, locations near dense population centres are becoming increasingly important to our customers.”

Key Infill locations
All properties and developments are located within or in close proximity to major population centres:

• Italy (Rome and Milan)
• Netherlands (Amsterdam and Rotterdam)
• Spain (Madrid and Barcelona)
• Germany (Nuremburg and Berlin)
• France (Paris)
• Belgium (Brussels)
• Poland (Lodz) 
   

Approximately 85% of facilities can service areas with a population of more than one million within 30 minutes. At 95% occupancy, the Prologis customer base is also set to expand, as we look forward to welcoming onboard more than 110 new customers. The already modern and high quality buildings will further benefit from Prologis staple value-adds including Prologis Essentials and PARKlife™ 

Customer-centric, urban-focused strategy
With the ongoing growth of e-commerce, demographic shifts towards cities and consumer expectation post COVID-19, city logistics plays a central role in customer location strategies. Urban locations, capable of servicing dense population centres are becoming increasingly important to our customers. 

“We do not see appetite for online purchasing to decline any time soon – consumer expectations have truly shifted as they have become fully accustomed to 24/7 convenience. If anything, the growth that logistics underwent to cope with the pandemic has given us a rare real-life insight into warehousing needs 5-10 years from now,” said Joseph Ghazal, Chief Investment Officer Prologis Europe.

Our global scale and access and deep local knowledge allow us to comfortably take on deals of this size and impact. Our teams across Europe work together to develop durable relationships with all of our partners and stay ahead of our customers’ needs. Their challenges, pain points and wellbeing are not just accommodated, but embedded into our forward-going investment strategy.