"Only 40,000 square meters of good logistic space are currently directly available in the Rotterdam region, which represents 2% of the total stock in the region," says Jim Orsel of real estate advisor Colliers International.
Demand for good logistics space is growing, but availability is minimal. "If we look at the growth of container transshipment in the port of Rotterdam, it will increase by 15 million tons up to and including 2020. If this growth continues, up to 2020 at least 250,000 square meters of logistics space will be needed to meet demand."
Attractiveness of the Rotterdam region
Companies requiring space in the short term will have to move to premises that can only partially meet their requirements. "Limited availability can influence the attractiveness of the region as a business location, which is not good for the continuing growth of the port of Rotterdam or the Rotterdam marketplace."
In the future, space will have to be created to maintain demand. In the first quarter, 60% of the total number of square meters taken up in 2017 has already been doled out, which shows that shortages are only increasing," says Orsel.
Development locations
"There are several development sites called greenfields’. The largest of these locations, are Distripark Maasvlakte West (100 hectares) and Kickersbloem 3 in Hellevoetsluis (50 hectares), can meet the space requirements. You can start building somewhere else, but that will cost you a year at least. The problem will be solved in the long term, but not for the short term," says Orsel. Apart from this, we see that at existing locations, redevelopment takes place in order to better meet the increasingly specific demands of the tenants.
"The expectation is that the port of Rotterdam will continue to grow, especially because of the increasing imports from Asia. For every fifth container entering the port, one container needs to be stored in the region. The current developing sites will be sufficient for the coming years," says Orsel. "Municipalities that host a lot of logistics activities are taking advantage of the situation, but at the moment we are still facing major shortages." If work on the development sites locations had perhaps started earlier, the shortages might not have been as acute as they are.
For more information:
Jim Orsel
Head of Industrial & Logistics Netherlands
Colliers International
Tel.: +31 (0) 630 94 5742
Web: www.colliers.com