Gramercy continues Fund III deployment with Czech Republic and Slovakia warehouse acquisitions

Gramercy Europe has acquired two assets, totaling €50 million ($56 million), in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, for its latest fund, Gramercy Property III (GPE III).

In the first transaction, Gramercy acquired a 55,472-square-meter (597,096-square-foot) logistics warehouse in Dunajská Streda, from GO ASSET Development GmbH and ECE European City Estates. The property is a modern, institutional-quality facility, built in two phases in 2016 and 2018. It is let on a long-term lease contract to RLS Slovakia, a subsidiary of Germany’s largest discount clothing and textile chain KiK Textilien und Non-Food GmbH.

In a second transaction, Gramercy acquired three adjacent warehouses, totaling 44,444 square meters (478,391 square feet), in the Pohorelice Logistics Park, in the Czech Republic, from Cromwell Property Group. The property is let to global mail and logistics provider DHL on a new 10-year, double-net lease.

Alistair Calvert, CEO of Gramercy Europe, commented, “Whilst still relatively fragmented, the Central European logistics market continues to mature, with more and more global 3PLs and major e-commerce businesses seeking modern, well-located logistics space. Both of these properties, let on long-term leases to strong counterparties, fit with our stated strategy of acquiring tenant critical assets in established logistics hubs with low vacancy rates and where there is the opportunity to realize both income and capital growth.

“With favorable supply-demand dynamics supporting investment and development in the logistics sector, the Gramercy team continues to leverage its local stakeholder relationships and knowledge of individual submarkets to identify attractive buying opportunities, and with a significant pipeline of both investment and development opportunities identified, is well positioned to deliver market outperformance.”

GPE III held a €260 million ($306 million) final close in September 2017. GPE III continues to source investments through funding build-to-suit developments, undertaking sale-leaseback transactions and acquiring existing leased assets in the logistics and light industrial property sector. The geographic focus of the fund will be on Continental Europe with a bias toward Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain.