Last mile real estate company Valor Real Estate Partners Europe’s fastest growing last mile real estate specialist, has completed the acquisition of three urban logistics assets in London, in separate transactions, for £23 million.
All three properties are on sites in prime Zone 2/3 locations where Valor has an existing footprint, extending its portfolio to 75 assets across 3.5 millionft² in Europe’s dominant e-commerce centre.
In Beckton, Valor has acquired two units on a 0.5 acre site in Gemini Business Park, from Compagnie du Parc. It follows the purchase in December last year of a substantial holding on the estate totalling 300,000ft², which included 14 units ranging from 13,000ft² to 115,000ft² and 1.64 acres of land on for development.
In Wandsworth, South-West London, Valor has acquired a single-let c. 12,000ft² property on a 0.33 acre site, from a private investor. The highly competitive last-mile logistics location is adjacent to the A218, which connects with the South Circular arterial road. It follows the purchase of an adjacent 1.1-acre brownfield land site in December last year, where Valor intends to deliver a modern industrial estate on the site, comprising 28,000ft² across six new buildings.
In a third transaction, Valor has acquired two units totalling 16,000ft² on Dorma Trading Park in Leyton, from a private seller. The company will undertake a refurbishment programme to create a modern, small bay estate that caters to last mile delivery logistics operators, with two million people within a 20-minute drive time. In January last year Valor acquired 24,000ft² of modern logistics space on a 1.26-acre plot on the same estate.
“Demand for fit-for-purpose urban facilities in ‘true’ last mile locations shows no sign of abating, driven by parcel and grocery operators’ need to be within ever shorter distances of consumers to enable rapid delivery”, said Jeremy Achkar, Vice President, Investment at Valor.
“Wandsworth, Beckton and Leyton are core logistics locations where we now have a significant presence, and which offer access to millions of consumers in a short drive time. All are high density London submarkets where competition for land is fierce, which will underpin strong rental growth over the short to medium term.”
