Hines pays FAP €75m for three more logistics assets in Italy

Hines is to buy three more industrial and logistics assets in Northern Italy from Italian logistics developer FAP Investments, for €75 million. Hines has said it plans to invest over half a billion euros in logistics assets in Italy by the year end mainly by building logistics hubs built from scratch on greenfield sites.

The three sites, located in Tortona, Montichiari and Breschia, will provide over 100,000 sq m of space and are due for completion in the first half of 2023.

The assets are being acquired on behalf of the Hines European Value Fund 2 (HEVF 2) and each is situated in a key strategic location for Italy’s e-commerce and manufacturing industries Hines said.

The Tortona asset will consist of two warehouses, totalling 55,000 sq m, the Montichiari site covers an area of over 30,000 sq m, and the Brescia project will provide two last-mile logistics warehouses, totalling 15,000 sq m.

Italian e-commerce booming after adding 3.2m new online users in 2020

Hines said the logistics market in Italy is growing rapidly due to the inability of its current infrastructure to meet burgeoning demand. In 2020, Italy’s e-commerce turnover amounted to a record €48.2 billion with approximately 3.2 million new online users.

Its latest acquisition builds on Hines’ existing partnership with FAP Investments, which is developing the 82,219 sq m Castel San Pietro Logistics asset, near Bologna, which HEVF 2 acquired in December 2020 and which is being pre leased.

 “We continue to see a very compelling opportunity to accumulate new class A logistics assets and take leasing risk in the Northern Italian market,” said Paul White, Hines senior managing director and HEVF 2 fund manager. “On the fundamentals side, going into 2020, vacancy rates were already very low and the new supply pipeline very thin. Increasing consumer demand for online goods, and corresponding ramp-up in distribution, has pushed demand on quickly and we see rents following.”