(BARCELONA) – Hines, a global real estate investment, development, and property manager, on behalf of its Hines European Core Fund (HECF) has acquired a logistics asset in Castellar del Vallès in Barcelona.
The asset spans 49,231 square meters of high-quality space and offers first-class occupier connectivity due to its location near the AP-7 motorway and the main logistics corridor in Barcelona. The asset aims to achieve a BREEAM Very Good certification following Hines’ scheduled water and energy efficiency upgrades. The industrial unit is currently occupied by ID Logistics, one of the largest logistics operators in Spain.
The acquisition reinforces HECF’s focus on the logistics sector which to date includes 9 investments in the logistics sector in 6 European countries, covering a total surface area of more than 380,000 square meters of industrial space. In Spain, this marks HECF’s third acquisition in the sector, with two other last mile assets spanning 9,798 and 7,676 square meters respectively, both located in Villaverde, Madrid, and fully occupied by the logistics operator, Ontime, on a long-term lease.
Simone Pozzato, managing director and HECF fund manager, said: “We have a clear investment strategy to continue to deploy capital in the European logistics sector given the opportunity for long-term value creation, the imbalanced supply and demand dynamics, and the continual need for logistics occupiers to have quality space. We have been looking to enter Barcelona for some time as Hines believes it’s a key connectivity hub in Spain.”
Vanessa Gelado, senior managing director and country head of Hines in Spain, added: "This is an excellent opportunity for Hines to invest in the logistics market in Barcelona, a market characterized by lack of supply and land constraints for new development due to its location between the sea and the mountains. The location is a crucial transportation axis for national and international logistics and, in recent years, for e-commerce. Additionally, the Spanish logistics market is experiencing a record year in terms of take-up levels with very solid demand fundamentals."
About Hines
Hines is a global real estate investment, development, and property manager founded in 1957 with a presence in 285 cities in 28 countries. Hines oversees investment assets under management valued at approximately $90.3 billion¹. In addition, Hines provides third-party property-level services to 373 properties totaling 114.2 million square feet. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired approximately 1,530 properties, totaling over 511 million square feet. The firm currently has more than 198 developments currently underway around the world. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a foundational commitment to ESG, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world.
Since entering Europe in 1991, Hines has grown its European platform to include offices in 17 cities as well as a presence in 60 cities in 14 countries. Hines oversees investment assets under management valued at approximately €24.5 billion and provides third-party property-level services totaling 4.3 million square meters in Europe, in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Visit www.hines.com for more information.
1. Includes both the global Hines organization as well as RIA AUM as of 31 December 2021
About Hines European Core Fund (HECF)
HECF was created in 2006 with the aim of providing investors with a resilient income profile and benchmark’s outperformance, derived from a diversified portfolio of high-quality assets located in prime locations across major European cities. As of Q1 2022 the HECF portfolio was 98.5% occupied with an aggregate fund value of c.€3.0bn. The portfolio of the Fund comprises 35 assets including forward commitments, invested in 17 city markets across ten different European countries
HECF achieved the highest possible rating of five Green stars out of five for an unprecedented fifth year in a row in the industry’s most recent GRESB rankings achieving a score of 96, its highest score to-date and once again coming first in its peer group and being awarded Sector Leader for a fifth consecutive year. HECF also received multiple awards including Overall Global Sector Leader, Global Sector Leader, Overall Regional Sector Leader and Regional Leader in the Diversified category. In March 2022, HECF was also recognised as the winner of the PREA Open-End Fund ESG Award for the second year in a row.
