The property at Arendal 13:2 comprises one main building totalling 33,200 sq m of lettable area and offers modern high-quality technical specifications including 29 loading docks and a floor to ceiling height of 11.7 meters. The building is to be certified with BREEAM Excellent accreditation.

Barings agreed a forward-commitment to purchase the asset from developer NCC in March 2022, subsequently closing the deal in January 2024, with a strategy to build-to-core and secure a lease. Upon entering leasing negotiations, international fashion retailer Kappahl ultimately opted to purchase the asset for use as its central distribution hub.

The asset is situated within a prime micro-location in Gothenburg, one of the most sought-after areas for logistics in the Nordics, outside the entrance to Gothenburg Harbour, which handles approximately 30 percent of Swedish foreign trade. The area is also home to Volvo’s headquarters and the largest industrial complex in Sweden.

Andreas Norberg, Managing Director and Head of Nordics at Barings Real Estate, said: “Having acquired this scheme as a speculative development with the intention of producing a core asset, its sale to Kappahl as owner-occupier has vindicated our decision completely and confirmed our underwriting assumptions. The asset will serve as its central distribution hub which, after such a short holding period, reflects the quality of the property and its excellent location. While we remain deeply attracted to logistics real estate across the Nordics, the opportunity to close this deal and return a profit to our investors was deemed to be the most attractive option. We intend to reinvest the capital into development opportunities in our preferred sectors, especially the logistics and several living classes like BTR/BTS and PBSA, across the Nordics.”

Gunther Deutsch, Managing Director and Head of European Transactions at Barings Real Estate, said: “This transaction underlines our prudent selection of locations, as well as development and business partners, across the Nordics. We are keen to expand our relationships to continue our investment path in the Nordics aiming for value add returns with a path to produce core assets through JVs or forward transactions across our priority sectors in 2024. Looking beyond this transaction, our focus remains on the next opportunity to secure for our investors in our preferred countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordics, the UK, Spain and Italy.”