Valor Real Estate Partners (“Valor”), Europe’s fastest growing last-mile real estate specialist, announces that it has agreed c. 27,500 sqm of new lettings across its French portfolio, following significant sustainability-led refurbishment programmes.

The strong period of activity has been driven by demand from a range of occupiers in the 3PL, distribution and e-commerce sectors for last-mile space in Paris and Lyon, coupled with an acute shortage of fit-for-purpose real estate.

• In the A86 Paris submarket of La Courneuve, where Valor recently completed a c. 5,500 sqm sustainability-led refurbishment, La Centrale de Pharmaciens, the chemist 3PL, has agreed a ten-year lease. The unit will serve as the tenant’s main distribution hub for the Paris region
• At its 10,500 sqm logistics park in Brie-Comte-Robert, Valor has completed a 2,200 sqm letting with Max Frank, the concrete construction specialists, on a nine-year term. The estate is now 100% occupied
• In Marly la Ville, north Paris, Valor has completed a 10,300 sqm letting to Cirro, the logistics fulfilment solutions provider, following practical completion of the highly functional, cross-dock asset in August 2023
• At one of its Corbas assets, where Valor is currently undertaking a significant refurbishment programme across c. 10,000 sqm of logistics and industrial warehousing, two new tenants have signed pre-lets, across 2,500 sqm of space, on nine-year terms. The scheme is located 15km east of Lyon
• In Louvres, also north Paris, Valor has completed two new lettings totalling 7,000 sqm, with NHA Logistique and ESI. Valor’s 19,500 sqm logistics park is now 100% occupied.

Alongside the new lettings, Valor continues to progress its significant refurbishment and development pipeline in Paris and Lyon. Two schemes totalling 9,150 sqm have recently completed, with a further three developments, totalling 42,500 sqm, to be delivered in 2024:

• A highly functional, 5,000 sqm cross-dock asset suitable for 3PL and last-mile operators in the East Lyon submarket of Chassieu, part of the “Zone Industrielle Mi Plaine”, which reached practical completion last month
• Practical completion in October of a 4,150 sqm modern urban distribution warehouse in Limeil, south-east Paris, a highly sought-after submarket 5km from the A86, and 14km from Paris 1st ring road
• A 10,200 sqm state of the art light industrial park in the northern Paris suburb of La Courneuve, which is due to complete in January 2024. The modularity of this park will allow a maximum of four units ranging from 1,700 sqm to 7,500 sqm
• A 17,800 sqm warehouse in Trappes, Paris, where Valor is undertaking a refurbishment programme to deliver modern, high-specification warehouse space, due to complete by the end of 2023. A pre-let has been agreed with Renault Group for 5,500 sqm
• A 14,500 sqm property in Garges, where Valor is also undertaking an extended refurbishment program, with completion targeted by the end of H1 2024.

Brad Stitchberry, Partner and Head of Asset Management at Valor, commented:

“These latest transactions demonstrate the continued occupier appetite for ‘true’ last mile warehousing in what are critically undersupplied pockets in dominant European cities. Our forensic knowledge of the Paris and Lyon regions has enabled us to amass one of the most significant portfolios in the region. As businesses continue to expand to meet demand for shorter delivery times and industrial operators seek high quality space, a combination of our targeted asset management and the sector’s decorrelation from wider macroeconomic shocks is enabling us to capture attractive rental growth.”