Garbe Industrial Real Estate carries out its first project development in Austria
Hamburg/Steyr, 11 December 2018 – Today’s groundbreaking ceremony officially initiated construction work on a 20,500-square-meter logistics centre developed by Garbe Industrial Real Estate GmbH in Steyr, Austria. The property should be completed in August next year. Industrie-Logistik-Linz GmbH will then provide contract logistics services for the BMW Group plant in Steyr.
Garbe Industrial Real Estate is investing around € 18 million in the project. In spring, the Hamburg-based company acquired the 42,000 square meter property that was ready for development. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the BMW Group’s engine plant in Steyr. The commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus’s production site is also not far away.
The twelve-meter-high new building will be designed in such a way that 20,000 square meters of warehouse space will be available for contract logistics services. “We are planning the entire property in such a way that it can be subdivided into 5,000 square meter units,” explains Jan Dietrich Hempel, managing director of Garbe Industrial Real Estate GmbH. In addition, there are about 550 square meters for offices and social rooms. The building is equipped with ten rear unloading bays and six sectional doors for side unloading. In the future Industrie-Logistik-Linz will operate the new logistics facility as a tenant, consolidating logistics services for several of BMW Group Steyr’s external warehouses – thereby shortening material flows and transport routes.
The construction of the logistics centre in Steyr is a first for Garbe Industrial Real Estate: “The Austrian market for logistics real estate is of such a size that companies are increasingly discovering that renting can be a more attractive option than personal investment. After portfolio acquistions, we now want to have a stronger presence with developments in this market,” says Jan Dietrich Hempel. Besides the last remaining area in the industrial area Steyr, transport infrastructure was decisive for the locational decision. The A1 motorway, which connects Linz with Vienna and Salzburg, can be reached via several federal and provincial roads. "In addition, the site has a siding, which can be activated and extended if necessary," said the CEO. Mayor Gerald Hackl emphasizes not only the industrial area’s attractiveness, but above all the location’s economic importance: "The logistics centre will further strengthen Steyr as a business location. The labour market will benefit too."