Gothenburg Port Authority all set to develop neighbouring logistics properties
Gothenburg Port Authority has worked over a long period to secure consent to construct a number of logistics properties on a 400,000 sq m site directly adjacent to the port. The Port Authority has now been given the go-ahead by the Authority’s owners to begin developing the site. But before work gets under way, the Port Authority needs to establish an organisation to handle the undertaking, the company said in a press release.
Logistics facilities are very much in demand in Gothenburg, the main reason being that the Port of Gothenburg, the largest port in the Nordic region, has direct services to key global export markets. Both the city and the port are centrally located in Scandinavia, with three capital cities and 70 per cent of the population and industry base in Scandinavia within a radius of 500 kilometres.
The automotive industry and its sub-suppliers have extensive operations in the region and require warehousing space. The strategic location has also led to several international e-commerce giants establishing distribution centres adjacent to the site to serve the Nordic countries. These are just two of the many reasons why logistics properties are in short supply in the Gothenburg area, a fact highlighted by Business Region Gothenburg in a recent report.
Working in partnership with four major logistics property companies, the Gothenburg Port Authority announced plans in 2015 for a new logistics park, almost one million square metres in size, directly beside the port. The project gathered momentum very quickly – Bockasjö, Castellum, Eklandia and NCC have all commenced, completed and in most cases let the majority of the properties in their blocks, which together account for almost half of the total land area.
For the Port Authority, things have not moved quite as quickly, stemming largely from uncertainty about whether the Gothenburg Port Authority or another municipal-owned company should be assigned the task of developing the remaining 400,000 sq m in the area known as Halvorsäng.
The Gothenburg Port Authority already owns and manages a property close to the port with DB Schenker as the tenant. Adjacent to this property is a site ready for construction, which is in addition to the land at Halvorsäng. Potentially, more than 300,000 sq m of storage space could be created on land managed by the Port Authority.
It is estimated that the first logistics properties at Halvorsäng will be completed during the latter half of 2020.