AEW launches logistics & light-industrial strategy with €475m of initial equity

AEW has launched a new urban logistics and light-industrial strategy with €475 million ($581 million) of startup equity. The platform is structured as a scalable partnership, targeting the development of an initial portfolio of €800 million ($978 million). The investors that have committed to the platform are long-term partners of AEW in the logistics sector and include PGGM, Allianz Real Estate and Crédit Agricole Assurances.

ULLIS aims to build a core portfolio focused on urban logistics and light industrial assets in major metropolitan areas of France, Germany and the Netherlands, where there is a chronic supply shortage, while demand is robust and increasing. The majority of equity is expected to be deployed across brownfield build-to-core developments, which will be supported by the acquisition of some income-producing assets.

The effects of structural trends supporting demand for industrial space across urban locations are likely to intensify further through