This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
JAPAN’S Hankyu Hanshin Properties and a Malaysian investor are investing $536 million into a portfolio of logistics properties across Australia.
The $3.2 billion portfolio is held by ESR in a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
The 11 assets are located in Sydney (four properties) – including a site in the Sydney Airport precinct that was part of an $802 million acquisition from Qantas – Melbourne (three assets), Brisbane (three) and Perth (one) and total a combined leasable area of 860,000 sqm.
Tenants include Woolworths and logistics and shipping giants DHL, Toll Transport and Maersk.
”The property complex consists of 11 logistics properties (43 buildings) consisting of rental properties and newly developed properties. All of the properties are located in locations ideal for logistics in various cities in Australia, and have excellent specifications such as floor load and ceiling height,” a statement from Hankyu Hanshin.
“Many of the properties are equipped with advanced equipment such as air conditioning, refrigeration, and automation, so stable rental demand is expected.”
The statement also said that two other companies, shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. and property firm Kintetsu Real Estate Co., Ltd., are scheduled to invest in the fund.
IPE Real Assets reported that the Malaysian investor is Kumpulan Wang Persaraan.
The original investor in the portfolio was Logos Australia Logistics Venture (LALV), a partnership between Logos and ADIA established in 2014. LALV came under the management of ESR in 2022 when ESR took control ARA Asset Management, which held a majority stake in Logos.
ESR completed its buyout of Logos in July.
Investment activity in Australia’s industrial markt was given a major boost in May by Barings and REST Super’s 12-asset, $780 million portfolio acquisition from Goodman Group.
The portfolio comprises 12 assets have a combined lettable area of 340,000 sqm on 70 hectares of land. The biggest is a Metcash warehouse of 115,000 sqm in Melbourne’s western suburb of Truganina, which will become the new wholesale distribution centre for the company’s Victorian IGA supermarkets. Other tenants in the portfolio also include ASX-listed Super Retail Group, Iron Mountain, and Pack Rack.
More recently, US bank Goldman Sachs tipped in about $200 million for a portfolio of seven last-mile logistics properties in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide put together by Fife Capital, while ESR’s local arm partnered with another Japanese company, Mitsubishi Estate Asia to develop a $175 million industrial estate in Melbourne’s south-east.
