Over 2.6 million square metres of real estate were added last year, with growth only 15 per cent lower than record years 2018 and 2019. A windfall, as earlier this year a decline of more than 30 per cent was predicted.
This is according to research by consultancy Buck Consultants International (BCI). The results are based on figures from 20 logistics property developers and investors in the Netherlands, which collectively cover 80 to 90 per cent of the logistics property market.
This year, growth in logistics real estate will be about the same as in 2020: 2.6 million square metres. Additional space is particularly needed in e-commerce, food and pharma. Partly as a result, the logistics property market is batting well through the corona crisis, according to BCI. Rents of distribution centres are even expected to rise by 2.5 to 3.5 per cent.
XXL DCs (distribution centres of more than 40,000 square metres) are also in demand. The number of mega distribution centres being built is expected to remain at the same high level of 2019. Back then, 31 XXL DCs were opened or announced.
The top five logistics regions, according to real estate experts, are:
Tilburg/Waalwijk 1.
Rotterdam 2.
3/4. North Limburg/Venlo and Utrecht
Schiphol/Amsterdam 5.
These top regions have the greatest shortage of plots and personnel. Emerging logistics regions include Almere-Lelystad, the A12 corridor, Arnhem-Nijmegen, Moerdijk and East Netherlands/Twente.
