CBRE Global Investors Acquires Italian Industrial Portfolio

Logistics warehouse in Turate. Image courtesy of CBRE Global Investors

CBRE Global Investors has acquired an approximately 120,000-square-meter (1.3 million-square-foot) logistics portfolio in Italy. The firm purchased the portfolio on behalf of its Logistics Venture Fund for an undisclosed price in an off-market transaction from Italian engineering and construction company Techbau.

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The portfolio includes a 40,000-square-meter (430,000-square-foot) Grade A logistics warehouse and an 80,000-square-meter (861,000-square-foot) speculative development on a 194,000-square-meter (2.1 million-square-foot) plot of land. The logistics warehouse is located in Turate, north of Milan, and is a single-dock asset leased for nine years to an Italian retailer. The warehouse is located near Italy’s A9 and its new A36 highways.

The speculative development will be located in Castrezzato, which is east of Milan, and is expected to be complete in the third quarter of this year. The distribution warehouse will also be located near transportation connections so it can serve the eastern part of the Lombardy region that includes cities like Milan, Brescia and Bergamo while also covering Venice and Verona.

Outside Italy, CBRE Global Investors has also invested in industrial properties in the U.S. In February, the firm purchased a 143,327-square-foot industrial property in San Bernardino, Calif., that is fully leased to FedEx as a last-mile facility.

Investing in Italy

According to the global investment firm, Italy’s logistics sector has shown positive market indicators like vacancy rates below 3 percent. On top of the market fundamentals, CBRE Global Investors said the portfolio was an attractive acquisition because the properties also had good fundamentals, and because of the scarcity of ready-to-go plots and it being a turn-key deal.

CBRE Global Investors also purchased another logistics park in Nogara, Italy, from Techbau, which is fully occupied by a local logistics operator. The firm’s Italian portfolio also includes a warehouse in Truccazzano that it purchased from AKNO Business Parks.