By Tyler Durden,
Move over, Amazon…
As the world of e-commerce and the associated shipping and logistics necessary to run such businesses expands, warehousing and shipping have become important commodities.
Perhaps that’s why one of the largest sales of industrial properties used for these types of businesses has just taken place. CBRE Investment Management has reportedly agreed to buy a “a global portfolio of logistics properties” valued at nearly $5 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, in a major bet that such properties will stay in demand.
The portfolio includes “more than 28 million square feet of warehouses, distribution centers and other logistics facilities in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Poland,” the report says. The properties are being built or developed by Ross Perot Jr.’s Hillwood Investment Properties, the report notes.
The portfolio was built in markets with large labor forces that are close to consumers.
Chuck Leitner, chief executive of CBRE Investment, said of the impact of Covid on e-commerce: “It’s made the price of real estate close to the consumer to be more worth it.”
He continued, pointing out the portfolio’s advantages for e-commerce: “It’s a portfolio that was built and designed to be very responsive” to online retailers.
As of now, about 66% of the portfolio is leased and built. The remaining portion is still being developed or leased.
CBRE’s strong balance sheet “allowed us to move quickly,” Leitner said of the purchase. In 2021, industrial property was one of the best performing types of property.
Source : https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/move-over-amazon-cbre-just-bought-nearly-5-billion-logistics-property-portfolio
