WDP invests EUR 75 million in four new projects in Romania

The biannual WDP Investor Day kicked off in Romania today with an event where the company announced a series of investments – totaling approx. EUR 75 million – for four properties on three different sites in Romania, by means of developments and acquisitions for both new and existing clients. WDP projects a total initial gross rental yield of approx. 8.5 percent for these new transactions.

This new investment volume will support further expansion of WDP activities in Romania. After completion, the property portfolio in Romania will reach around 450 million euros, with the projected investment growth in the portfolio approaching 500 million euros (or 15 percent of the total WDP property portfolio) by late 2019.

“The strategic location and high quality of our Romanian sites allow WDP to create long-term partnerships with its clients at various locations, to support growth in their activities,” said Jeroen Biermans, general manager of WDP in Romania.

“These investments highlight the importance of Romania in our property portfolio. The ‘Investor Day’, kicking off today, is further proof of this,” adds WDP CEO Joost Uwents.

Metro and LPP team up with WDP

On its existing site in Stefanestii de Jos near Bucharest, WDP is breaking ground on two new warehouses totaling around 80,000 square meters. These buildings will be developed on the parcel purchased in late 2017.

On the one hand, WDP will develop a new food logistics warehouse for Metro totaling 58,000 sqm. The building will be delivered in phases starting in early 2020 and consists of both a non-temperature-controlled warehouse and a refrigerated and frozen storage space for food distribution. Metro is signing on to a long-term ten-year lease for this site. In addition, a new distribution center for development of over 22,000 sqm, slated for delivery during the second quarter of 2019, will accommodate the e-commerce activities of clothing specialist LPP. LPP will lease this new warehouse for a period of ten years. WDP forecasts an investment budget of approx. EUR 43 million for these projects.

Previously, WDP developed and leased out distribution centers on this site to Decathlon and Carrefour, amounting to a total area of approx. 49,000 sqm. Moreover, the site still offers space for further development.

WDP logistics park in Cluj-Napoca

WDP is acquiring an existing warehouse of around 33,000 sqm on this site. The lease with Profi has a remaining duration of ten years. This acquisition further expands this retailer’s partnership with WDP, following the previous commissioning of a new refrigerated distribution centre on this site. After all, this is where the supermarket chain Profi is centralising its retail service for fruit and vegetables for the Transylvania region. In addition, Profi is leasing another newly built warehouse from WDP in Roman. This acquisition will also make WDP the owner of the entire logistics park in Cluj-Napoca (nearly 70,000 sqm), and the party responsible for park management. Logistics service providers Arcese and KLG have a WDP property here as well. The investment budget for this acquisition amounts to EUR 22 million.

Finally, WDP is announcing the construction of a new warehouse for Ursus Breweries, one of the largest breweries in Romania. Ursus Breweries will use the site in Buzau, located to north east of Bucharest, to supply its clients in the capital. The new distribution centre, spanning approx. 20,000 sqm, is located next to the existing brewery and will be leased for a period of ten years. The investment budget for WDP comes to EUR 10 million.