“Investor interest in logistics real estate is growing in France. In a buoyant climate, Prologis again proves its ability to innovate.” Cécile Tricault, Country Manager, France, attributes this interest to sustainable development and new services for customers.
French real estate is doing well. Investors are attracted to it and it shows. Record demand in the Île-de-France region and across France, as well as continued e-commerce growth, is driving our innovation strategy forward. This has resulted in an increase in our business and in leasing.
Transactions over the first nine months of 2018 have led to an unprecedented 95% occupancy in France. This is mainly down to winning new customers, strengthening the loyalty of our traditional base and expanding our e-commerce portfolio.
Some of our parks like Moissy Chanteloup or Moissy 2 Les Chevrons where national carrier, La Poste has renewed its presence, are actively able to position themselves as e-commerce hubs. This has attracted major e-commerce players to drop anchor there too, to benefit from synergies.
As part of our long-term strategy, a main priority is to offer customers assets that are tailored specifically to their needs, now and in the future. Following the course set in 2016 we continue to upgrade our asset portfolio, focusing on high quality assets, in mature markets and markets with strong growth potential. We have continued this transformation throughout 2018, offering high-end services and the highest standard of maintenance in terms of ICPE authorisations.
All of our efforts concentrate on strengthening the main cornerstones of our business in France:
- To offer a premium service to our customers
- Build responsibly and with respect for the environment
- Develop the quality of outdoor spaces
- Reduce energy consumption
- Improve the quality and number of ICPE-authorised headings,
Today, all new assets are certified. Better still, our requirements are now more stringent. We have climbed from a ‘BREEAM Good’ level of rating to ‘BREEAM Very Good’ for our most recent assets and have even attained a ‘BREEAM Excellent’ rating for a building at Moissy-Cramayel.
Facilities now are equipped with LED presence detectors, which can be finely adjusted to regulate the use of lighting or heating, and cut energy consumption by 50%-75%. Our warehouses also increasingly apply environmental solutions, integrating systems for rainwater management, alternative energy supply, eco-management through beehive installations and miscellaneous services like charging stations for electric vehicles. One of our latest buildings, in Marly-la-Ville, has received the BiodiverCity® label, an international environmental certification that acknowledges the performance of biodiversity projects.
A particularly unique characteristic of Prologis is that we combine asset management and project development. This allows us to test and implement innovations on assets still under development, before deployment across our asset base. Our digital tool EEGLE®, which uses BIM technology and can be remotely used to control building functioning started this way. EEGLE® supports project design and development by creating a digital library of the building and offers a predictive analysis of its behaviour. It can manage building operations and maintenance like, water and energy consumption, scheduled maintenance / servicing, and more.
Developed by our French team, it was first tested on various projects in France, Spain and Italy. We now plan to extended it to all new projects in Southern Europe and to our existing assets once they have been BIM modelled - offering customers a new level of simplicity and predictability.
One of our most determining success factors is our ability to keep innovating. We will continue to be proactive and deliver beneficial services for our customers.
Have a great year-end, one that may bring exciting challenges and new ideas!“
Cécile Tricault
Country Manager, Prologis France