The biannual WDP Investor Day kicked off in Romania today (1 October 2018). To launch the event, WDP announced a series of investments – totalling approx. 75 million euros – for four properties on three different sites in Romania, by means of developments and acquisitions for both new and existing clients. WDP projects a total initial gross rental yield of approx. 8.5% for these new transactions.
This new investment volume will support further expansion of WDP activities in Romania. After completion, the property portfolio in Romania will reach around 450 million euros, with the projected investment growth in the portfolio approaching 500 million euros (or 15% of the total WDP property portfolio) by late 2019.
On its existing site in Stefanestii de Jos near Bucharest, WDP is breaking ground on two new warehouses totalling around 80,000 m². These buildings will be developed on the parcel purchased in late 2017. On the one hand, WDP will develop a new food logistics warehouse for Metro totalling 58,000 m². The building will be delivered in phases starting in early 2020 and consists of both a nontemperature-controlled warehouse and a refrigerated and frozen storage space for food distribution. Metro is signing on to a long-term ten-year lease for this site.
In addition, a new distribution centre for development of over 22,000 m², slated for delivery during the second quarter of 2019, will accommodate the e-commerce activities of clothing specialist LPP. LPP will lease this new warehouse for a period of ten years. WDP forecasts an investment budget of approx. 43 million euros for these projects.
Previously, WDP developed and leased out distribution centres on this site to Decathlon and Carrefour, amounting to a total area of approx. 49,000 m². Moreover, the site still offers space for further development. The WDP park in Stefanestii de Jos is located at the junction of the Bucharest ring road and the A3 motorway, connecting the capital to the north of the country, in a neighbourhood with a growing concentration of buying power, making it a superb base of operations for e-fulfilment, e-commerce, logistics services and distribution. The site is also of interest to food retailers. For instance, Mega Image (the Romanian subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize) has already centralised its distribution activities in this area.
WDP is acquiring an existing warehouse of around 33,000 m² on the site on WDP Logistics Park Cluj-Napoca. The lease with Profi has a remaining duration of ten years. This acquisition further expands this retailer’s partnership with WDP, following the previous commissioning of a new refrigerated distribution centre on this site. This is where the supermarket chain Profi is centralising its retail service for fruit and vegetables for the Transylvania region. In addition, Profi is leasing another newly built warehouse from WDP in Roman. This acquisition will also make WDP the owner of the entire logistics park in Cluj-Napoca (nearly 70,000 m²), and the party responsible for park management. Logistics service providers Arcese and KLG have a WDP property here as well. The investment budget for this acquisition amounts to approx. 22 million euros.
Finally, WDP is announcing the construction of a new warehouse for Ursus Breweries, one of the largest breweries in Romania. Ursus Breweries will use the site in Buzau, located to north east of Bucharest, to supply its clients in the capital. The new distribution centre, spanning approx. 20,000 m², is located next to the existing brewery and will be leased for a period of ten years. The investment budget for WDP comes to approx. 10 million euros. (source: WDP)
