On Feb 10, ESR Cayman announced that it has completed the acquisition of a prime logistics and industrial portfolio in Greater Shanghai, in partnership with a leading global institutional investor.
The portfolio, which consists of 11 completed logistics and industrial assets with a total GFA of over 550,000 sqm, represents the largest logistics and industrial portfolio ever sold in Greater Shanghai. The portfolio is concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta region, spanning major cities including Shanghai, Kunshan, Suzhou, Taicang and Hangzhou, with high exposure to dense population centres and excellent access to transportation systems.
ESR’s Chinese logistics real estate portfolio comprises US$13.4 billion of New Economy AUM and a 2.5 million sqm of pipeline. Greater Shanghai has been a core strategic market for the Group. The Yangtze River Delta region – one of the strategic megalopolises and home to a cluster of e-commerce and modern logistics companies – has been an important economic powerhouse for the nation benefiting from coordinated policies introduced by the government.
The regional GDP of the Yangtze River Delta region accounted for 24.5% of China’s total in the first three quarters of 2021, up from 24.1% in the full year 2018. Demand for logistics space in Shanghai remained consistently strong in 2021, with rent rising by 2.2% year-on-year while the vacancy rate edged down by 2.4 percentage points year-on-year.