A 15 acre site to the east of Heathrow Airport has been snapped up by Oxford Properties and Logistics Capital Partners with plans for £150 million urban logistics scheme as demand for ecommerce warehouse space in London rockets.
The off-market acquisition of the former airline pilot training centre of Earhart Way next door to the airport is Oxford Properties first direct logistics investment in Europe.
Jo McNamara, Head of Europe at Oxford Properties, said: “Logistics continues to be one of our highest conviction strategies globally; we continue to believe in the secular shifts underpinning the sector, including e-commerce penetration and evolving supply chains, that will continue to drive robust occupier demand against a limited supply of prime new space.
“This demand and supply imbalance for new, prime logistics space is particularly apparent around major cities where there is significant competition from alternative uses.”
At the start of 2018, logistics represented only 4% of Oxford’s assets; now it is thought to have approximately a third of its deployed equity in the asset class. Oxford Properties is looking to invest some £3 billion in the European logistics sector over the next five years in platforms and portfolios of scale.
John Pagdin, Head of UK at Logistics Capital Partners added “These types of prime London logistics development opportunities are indeed rare, particularly in terms of the scale of potential project, and we look forward to bringing forward a best in class scheme – unique in its ability to serve not only London Heathrow Airport with a private dedicated access, but also the west London delivery market.”
The vendor was advised by Cushman & Wakefield.