All buildings will have modern technical specifications, reflecting a campus concept and become mission-critical hubs for DHL Supply Chain and its national and international customers. The 14 units, constructed across 10 development sites, are located across major logistics markets in Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Italy and Poland. All buildings will meet key sustainability criteria such as BREEAM Excellent and EPC A, comply with EU taxonomy and undergo a Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM) assessment.

"The development of 400,000 sqm of carbon neutral warehouses is an important strategic step as we aim to meet our customers' growing demand for more sustainable warehouse space in strategic markets. All assets we develop are underpinned by excellent fundamentals; be it sustainability, digitalization, location, demographics or tenure. Connectivity or proximity to key sales markets help us improve delivery times for our customers, while a close eye on the surrounding social factors and communities in which we operate help us to generate attractive jobs and ensuring us access to a loyal and capable workforce. These factors help us and our customers to be even more successful and lead the way into a more sustainable future." says Hendrik Venter, CEO DHL Supply Chain EMEA.

For a first tranche of this 400,000 sqm warehouse portfolio, DHL Supply Chain has already found an investor and strategic partner. Allianz Real Estate, acting on behalf of several Allianz Group companies, and DHL Supply Chain have entered into a purchase agreement for the sale of the first half of the portfolio. Set to be completed between Q1 2023 to Q1 2024, the warehouses will represent one of Allianz Real Estate's largest single logistics sector acquisitions, in terms of gross leasable area, to date: in total the five facilities will cover over 200,000 sqm. 

DHL Supply Chain will occupy at least 85% of the facilities developed for Allianz Real Estate on long-term leases post completion. 

"We are very proud to be able to offer our clients effective growth opportunities, with warehouses that are not only located in core markets and fulfill our clients' needs, but also meet the highest ESG and sustainability criteria. This enables us and our customers to create business opportunities that are compatible with our Sustainability Roadmap, which aims to make every aspect of the supply chain more sustainable which of course also includes our real estate. We are very much looking forward to many more such projects in the future," says Joe Mikes, Global Head of Real Estate Solutions at DHL Supply Chain.

DHL Supply Chain was advised commercially by JLL and was represented legally by DLA Piper.