This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CHARTER Hall Prime Industrial Fund has secured a 46,000 sqm pre-lease to fast fashion heavyweight Uniqlo on a 10-year term at its $500 million Midwest Logistics Hub in Melbourne’s Truganina.
The facility will consolidate their operations into one purpose-built facility within the 60 hectare estate, featuring cross dock operations with a super awning, 14.6 metre warehouse clearance height and container rated hardstand.
“This pre-lease to Uniqlo further reinforces the changing nature of retail supply chains with the commitment of Fastline Retailing (the owner of Uniqlo), a global leader in the retail industry, to establish their own facility to manage both their existing national store network and their expanding ecommerce business,” Andrew Simons, Charter Hall’s head of development, industrial & logistics, said.
Uniqlo partnered with specialist supply chain and property firm TM Insight to develop the business case, run the property procurement process and project manage the construction.
Over 50% of the estate is now committed. Uniqlo’s lease begins early in 2021 and civil and infrastructure works will be completed in June.
Development at Midwest began in October with the first pre-lease to Toll Group for a temperature controlled 44,000 sqm facility, which will service their fulfilment contract with Mars Wrigley Australia, acting as a distribution centre for storage and dispatch to customers. Capacity will be 49,000 pallets – or more than 700 million Mars Bars.
Construction of the Toll facility is on track to be completed in September.
Each facility at Midwest is targeting a 4-star Green Star Design and As-Built rating and will incorporate various sustainability initiatives including 100-300kw solar PV systems, LED warehouse lighting and rainwater harvesting.
Charter Hall’s industrial and logistics development pipeline now exceeds $2 billion. CPIF now comprises 65 properties with a weighted average lease expiry of 10.7 years, 98.2% occupancy.
Late last year the Charter Hall Prime Industrial Fund undertook a $725 million equity raising, which was oversubscribed from domestic and offshore investors.