"Our customers are still mostly doing research with regard to Bulgaria and Serbia".

Michael de Jong-Douglas

Prologis, the world’s largest owner, manager and developer of distribution facilities, has already established its position in Romania with Bucharest A1 logistics park and intends to further extend its activities in the country, staking on the same strategy it applied in markets like Poland and the Czech Republic.

What is specific about the Romanian logistics real estate market? Which are the country’s cities that the company views as potential distribution centers? When is demand for warehousing space expected to meet offer in Romania? Is Prologis looking at Serbia and Bulgaria at the moment? What are its plans for Ukraine? Property Xpress addresses these questions to Dr. Michael de Jong-Douglas, Senior Vice President and Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe with ProLogis.

In this interview the insights of Dr. de Jong-Douglas are also available into issues such as: Is the company planning to roll out a chain of distribution centers across Romania? Why is Prologis feeling very comfortable building space without a specific customer’s requirement in Romania, whereas this is not the case with the other markets from the region yet? Why, despite the fact that the company is careful when entering small markets, it has already gained a stronghold in Slovakia, a country even smaller in terms of area and population than Serbia and Bulgaria? Can poor infrastructure frighten away logistics companies willing to invest in a given country? Is the Central and Eastern European region seeing a large demand for warehousing space on part of domestic production companies? Will the fact that Eastern Europe is becoming a hot outsourcing destination play an important role in the development of its logistics markets? Does Prologis foresee mixed-use projects in the region? How will the acquisition of Parkridge’s Astral logistics development business, strategically targeting Central Europe, complement to the ProLogis portfolio and influence the company’s investment strategy? What is the plan for Prologis’ new European fund, ProLogis European Properties Fund II, with regard to Romania? Are residential and logistics the real estate segments with greatest potential in SEE? Read this exclusive interview in order to find out.


The rest of this interview is for Property Xpress subscribers only.
Not subscriber yet? Start your subscription at http://www.propertyxpress.com/subscribe.php