Logistics expanding across the country
An increasing number of investors and real estate development companies are turning to the development of transit trade and storage infrastructures, both inside and recently outside Attica. If these projects, with an estimated cost of more than 500 million euros, are successful, they are expected to significantly strengthen the country’s role as a international supply chain hub.
If one also adds plans for Thriasio I and II, the utilization of the former Gonou military camp in Thessaloniki, and also for the plot owned by the Church of Greece in Schistos, for which a memorandum of understanding was recently signed with the Greek government, the market’s value soars to almost €2 billion.
At the same time, these investments will significantly strengthen the process of turning consumers toward e-commerce. “Consumption has started to move away from the brick-and-mortar store and toward the warehouse and distribution of products. It is therefore a natural evolution for real estate development companies, such as ours, to move from the creation of new commercial spaces to the creation of new storage facilities,” says Dimand Real Estate Managing Director Dimitris Andriopoulos.
The listed company last week announced the acquisition of the former Balkan Real Estate property in Thessaloniki for €6 million. In an area of 335,600 square meters, Dimand aspires to develop, in two phases, the largest logistics complex in northern Greece, This is Dimand’s first investment in the field of largescale peri-urban logistics infrastructure, which shows the conviction of the company’s executives in the development prospects of Thessaloniki as a trans-Balkan commercial hub.
Another large investment in Thessaloniki, on its west side, of the order of €250-300 million euros, concerns the utilization of the former Gonou military camp, an area of 672,000 sq.m. The property belongs to the Ministry of Finance, which has granted it for its use to GaiaOSE.
As Dika Agapitidou, head of Athenian Finance-JLL, explains: “The nature of logistics infrastructures is now changing, as they are expanding to areas outside the Attica basin. Also, the objective of the companies is the sustainable operation of the facilities.” For this purpose, all new investments provide for the adoption of energy saving systems, such as rooftop photovoltaic systems, used to power the facilities.