Britain’s Valor Real Estate Partners and Canada’s QuadReal Property Group have acquired two prime last-mile logistics sites in London for a total gross development value (GDV) of £60 million.

London-based Valor purchased the properties on behalf of its existing joint-venture with Vancouver-headquartered QuadReal, the companies announced in a news release. The acquisitions will accelerate London urban logistics deployment and extend the joint-venture’s development pipeline, said the companies.

The properties are located in the Barking and Enfield areas and were acquired off market. Valor and QuadReal did not disclose any sellers.

The Enfield acquisition includes the Trafalgar Trading Estate, a prominent multi-let (or multi-tenant) industrial park in North London. The 79,435-square-foot property consists of 11 units across three terraced buildings and is 92% occupied by a range of trade-counter and last-mile businesses. With its proximity to major motorways and trunk roads, the site serves a large population of approximately 6.4 million people within a 60-minute drive.

In East London’s Barking district, the joint-venture has acquired a vacant 3.5-acre site, where it plans to develop a best-in-class, build-to-suit last-mile distribution hub. The location benefits from excellent connectivity to key transport routes and is situated in one of London’s major industrial centers, which is experiencing ongoing residential-led regeneration projects, such as Barking Riverside, said Valor and QuadReal.

“These acquisitions align with our strategy of capitalizing on high-growth urban logistics markets where supply constraints and strong demand present opportunities for long-term value creation,” said Thomas Blangy, a senior vice-president at QuadReal.

“London’s last-mile logistics sector continues to offer solid fundamentals; and through our partnership with Valor, we are well-positioned to generate sustainable returns by delivering strategically located assets that meet occupier needs in these key submarkets.”

Jeremy Achkar, a senior vice-president at Valor, said the Trafalgar Trading Estate purchase gives the company its first first property in Enfield, one of London’s key industrial submarkets.

Timour Wielemans, a vice-president at Valor, said the Enfield land acquisition extends Valor’s development pipeline beyond 700,000 sf. Valor intends to construct its first build-to-suit leasing project on the site.

“With our in-house development team, we are well-positioned to take on increasingly complex projects and deliver bespoke products that align with the needs of our occupiers,” he said.

Founded in 2016, Valor is a full-service development management and investment business with offices in London, Paris and Berlin. The company focuses on urban/infill industrial and logistics properties in the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Benelux), Spain and Italy.

QuadReal is a global real estate investment, operating and development company The firm is a subsidiary of the provincially owned British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, which invests on behalf of public-sector pension funds.

Pictured: Trafalgar Trading Estate, London

Image: NovaLoca