The available land for logistics real estate can be used more usefully by building double-storey warehouses and distribution centres. Moreover, the roofs of buildings can be used intensively, for example by building roof gardens or parks with padel courts on them.
That is what real estate investor Somerset Capital Partners wants to achieve with new company Intospace. The developer of DCs for Zalando, Jumbo, Picnic and Kuehne + Nagel already has concrete plans to create allotments on the rooftops for surrounding residents. "The landscape space taken up by our buildings we are trying to give back on the roof," says Intospace's new CEO Tim Beckmann, until recently a partner at Somerset Capital Partners. "And it has to be cleaner, much cleaner. We have to be careful with our earth, with our space. No longer be part of the problem, but part of the solution."
Order book 1.5 billion
Intospace takes off with an order book of €1.5 billion. With the new company, Somerset corporatises all logistics real estate activities. Almost all staff will join Intospace in Oisterwijk, Brabant. Investors behind Intospace are Somerset founder Joes Daemen and entrepreneur Raymond Cloosterman.
Brownfield sites
Sustainable use of space starts with reusing available land, according to the property developer. About 15 per cent of all industrial buildings in the Netherlands are older than 40 years and may now need replacement or redevelopment. Within Intospace, a team of specialists scours the country for these brownfield sites.
Rooftop parking spaces
One way to put roofs to good use - besides solar panels - is to park passenger cars on them. By using the roof as a parking deck, the required plot area required for a logistics building can be greatly reduced and the landscape is not affected by large car parks, Intospace said. In turn, these roof parking spaces can be fitted with carports, leaving space for solar panels as well.
