Logistics Real Estate Network Expansion

E-commerce is booming; logistics hot spots are shifting; and global supply chains are being restructured. So how are decision-makers responding?  

In a survey, Prologis Research and Eyefortransport (eft) polled logistics industry participants in Europe to see how new real estate footprints are being developed.  The survey revealed the most important factors driving location selection, as well as the current European logistics hot spots (and a few locations that have dropped in importance).  Our survey also shines a light on how decisions have evolved over the past two years.

The top five European locations are in the Benelux and praised by occupiers for their good infrastructure and proximity to customers and suppliers. Venlo, a logistics market in southeast Netherlands, near the German border, is Europe’s most desirable location by a significant margin.  After the five Benelux powerhouses, the rest of the top 10 is filled out by Dusseldorf, Central Poland,Antwerp-Hasselt, Istanbul and Cologne.  

Our research finds that in the future, availability of staff will be the most important consideration for choice of location in Europe.  In addition, structural factors, such as global trade, outsourcing and infrastructural improvements, appear poised to be stronger drivers of change than cyclical factors, such as economic development and consumption.  Sustainability has become particularly important for brand-sensitive customers, such as retailers and consumer packaged goods distributors.  E-commerce growth has exploded in recent years and is only likely to become more important.