The
year 2017 broke all records in the field of logistics real estate
broken. Never before has so much logistics space been occupied:
three million square metres.
Investing in logistics property is therefore popular, but not without
risk. After all, logistics tenants increasingly demand sustainable and
flexible solutions, demonstrated at the Logistic Real Estate Congress
2018. "A sustainable warehouse is more than a
building with LED lighting and a BREAAM certificate."
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Nedcargo invests heavily in sustainability. The
logistics provider has put its first electric barge
in service, while the second and third are under construction. The
distribution network - following the commissioning of
new premises in Willebroek at the end of 2017 - consists of three multi-customer
warehouses. "Sustainability is more than a building with LED lighting and
a BREAAM certificate. We are looking for locations with a multimodal
terminal, so we can use inland shipping. In the
warehouses at those locations, we put customers with as much as possible
the same distribution profile, so that we can bundle flows," says
Roderick de la Houssaye, ceo of Nedcargo. He is telling his story in
Roosendaal at the Logistic Real Estate 2018 conference,
organised by Spryg
.
For all its investments in sustainability,
De la Houssaye one key argument: customers want it.
From its warehouse in Alphen aan den Rijn, Nedcargo handles Heineken
Heineken's export shipments, for example. "Heineken
eventually wants completely energy-neutral logistics. Our
activities play an important role in this. We are part of
our customers' sustainability agenda. For that reason, we appear in the
annual reports of clients like Heineken, Remia and FrieslandCampina."
Energy transition
Nedcargo is keen to invest in sustainability,
but this is only possible if customers commit to
the logistics service provider. This calls for a break with the prevailing
trend where contracts lasting one,
two or three years seem to be the norm. “Take the electric
container ship we use to transport Heineken’s export shipments to Rotterdam
. A ship like that costs 3.5 million euros. To make investments of that kind
, we have signed a ten-year
contract.”
The energy transition is not only limited
to inland navigation, but also extends to the entire
logistics operation. De la Houssaye calculates how much energy is needed
for the premises, internal transport and transport
by inland waterway and road: 30,000 megawatts in Alphen aan den
Rhine, slightly more in Willebroek. "If we fill the roof with
solar panels, it produces more energy than we use in the warehouse
consume. With a wind turbine, we can run a warehouse of
60,000 square metres. The question is how we buffer that energy.
We can build a hydrogen plant for that, but that has an
efficiency of no more than 30 to 60 per cent. I see more in storage in
batteries. To run the warehouse in Willebroek
run for a week, we need two tonnes of batteries
needed. That's not too bad."
Warehouse-as-a-service
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Naomi Landman of Gefco cites flexibility
as the most important real estate theme. The demand from its customers is changing
faster and faster. "One minute they are launching
a webshop, which involves a lot of small shipments.
The other moment they receive extra bulk stock for which they are
solution for. That means we don't need the same amount of
square metres we need. That means we also don't want to
the same number of square metres every month. Ideally
we only pay for the space we use. That also requires
a property manager who goes along with that," states the managing director
of Gefco Forwarding Netherlands.
Philippe van de Beken, managing director
at Goodman, recognises the growing demand for flexible property solutions.
He introduces the term ‘warehouse-as-a-service’. “We, as
property players need to start thinking much more in terms of infrastructure
rather than in terms of fixed tenants.” Landman adds yet another aspect
to this: the working environment. As it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit staff
, it is important that logistics service providers such as Gefco
present themselves as attractive employers.
“That calls for a warehouse with plenty of natural light and, for example,
opportunities to sit outside during breaks in the summer. We are
rely on what you build for us in that regard,” said
Landman told the property developers.
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Startups
New start-ups are responding to the demand for
sustainable and flexible logistics solutions. One example is City Hub,
which is opening mini-warehouses on the outskirts of cities. Retailers can
transfer their goods there using environmentally friendly,
electric vehicles. “A company such as Nike has
in Amsterdam with us. This has made it possible to
retail space to grow by thirty per cent. Turnover has also
subsequently risen by thirty per cent,” says Jeroen
van der Kraats, founder of City Hub.
Stockspots has developed an app that matches demand
and supply in storage space together. The app offers
also insights into stock positions in the external warehouse.
Founder Coen de Lange: "We are now in talks
with a flower pot supplier that has a peak four months a year.
The rest of the year there is not much to do in that warehouse. We
make sure there remains movement."
