This August 31st, #prologispeople will unite once again for the tenth year in a row to participate in Stelvio for Life. Our international team of 60 members are gearing up to hike, run, or bike the 21 km route, ascending 1,533 meters up Italy’s iconic Passo dello Stelvio. This collective effort is all in support of transformative cancer research.

Prologis has published its 2023 ESG Report, outlining the progress towards the main goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2040. The 2023 report includes updates on sustainable logistics, the  #prologispeople, and resilient community building. This is the 18th ESG report Prologis has published since 2006. 

We are pleased to share our first quarter activity for Prologis Europe in 2024. This summary includes operating performance highlights. 

Jessica Pilkes, previously Vice President and Country Manager for the Benelux, has been appointed as Head of Asset Management Northern Europe. In her new role she is responsible for Prologis’ operations across the Northern European region. 

2022 was a year of record global rent growth in nominal and real terms, since Prologis Research began tracking in 2007. Global rents grew by 30% year-over-year (real growth 21%), accelerating significantly beyond the prior record of 17% (10% real in 2021).

Logistics real estate is much more than the distribution of goods: it is an essential link in the global economy and a crucial part of the modern supply chain. But how many products (and with what value) are transported through Prologis distribution centers worldwide?

Covid-19 has conflated more than five years of evolution in the retail real estate landscape into less than five months, with the sharp rise in online spending during lockdowns piling pressuring on landlords in the sector to consider conversion of their properties to e-commerce warehouses to meet spiraling demand for high quality and infill logistics space, particularly in the ‘Last Touch®’ or ‘last mile’ distribution areas of urban conurbations.

The pandemic has accelerated changes in the retail environment, bringing significant implications for logistics real estate. In this installment, we revisit the intensity of use ratio between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar sales, examine supply chain patterns of highly impacted retailers, and provide a mid-quarter update on U.S. customer activity and utilization. Findings in these three areas add upside to logistics real estate momentum during the Recovery phase of the pandemic.

Since 2021, Prologis Benelux uses Real Estate & Customer Experience Teams (RECX) to ensure customers’ needs are met and to offer best in class and personal service. Thanks to this RECX- set-up, Prologis customers can rely on integrated, cross-functional expertise, and high-quality service. 

Due to the current climate crisis and the sense of urgency to diminish their impact on the environment, governments, consumers, and companies are looking for ways to decrease their carbon footprint. This includes logistics (real estate), which provides an opportunity to realize a significant CO2-reduction within the value chain. Prologis noticed the demand in low-carbon logistics and facilitated with the design and construction of Prologis Park Eindhoven DC4: a new generation of warehouses, offering a whole lot more than four walls and a roof. 

Partly driven by the ambition towards sustainability, companies continuously require more electricity. Preferably sustainable energy generated by the sun, wind, water, or heat. This is also – perhaps even more so – applicable to the logistics (real estate) sector, which is going through a major transition towards sustainability. 

The Rotterdam port – Europe’s largest – is known as Europe’s most important logistics gateway. For logistics companies it’s a key area to be located, and as a result the demand for logistics real estate invariably exceeds the supply. Logistics service provider GEODIS is one of those companies with a warehouse in the Rotterdam harbor, at Prologis Park Botlek, where the global operating company supports customers with customized solutions in the field of transport and logistics.