A research produced by
Semi-industrial take-up in Q1 was a healthy 180,000 sq m thanks to extensive activity in Flanders and important hubs of activity such as Brussels Airport.
Overall, logistics take-up was also strong with 214,000 sq m recorded thanks to promising starts to the year in Flanders and Brussels. This follows the news that Belgium has improved its ranking in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index, having moved into third position from seventh in 2012.
Occupiers active in supply chain and distribution provided most of the logistics demand in Q1, with a marked preference for Grade A buildings.
Despite a lack of available Grade A buildings, they manage to compose most of the take-up. Key logistics property owners have signalled their plans to continue growth in the coming years, while noting their aversion to speculative projects. Therefore as long as owners possess land for turnkey schemes, Grade A take-up can retain an important share of market activity.
Prime and average weighted semi-industrial rents have remained stable in Q1, at EUR 55/sq m/year, and EUR 41/sq m/year respectively. The prime logistics rent suffers a decrease to EUR 45/sq m/year, as does the average weighted rent which is now just under EUR 37/sq m/year.
Source : DTZ (Groupe UGL)
