Tuesday, 26 August 2025
HIH Invest Real Estate has acquired a logistics development project in Herten, North Rhine-Westphalia, through a joint venture with international private equity investor Nrep and its logistics platform, Logicenters. The property was purchased from developer E-Group under a forward funding agreement. HIH Invest initiated and structured the transaction and financing, and will serve as asset manager.
The project is being developed on a 65,220-square-metre site at Emscherbruch 10. The logistics park will offer 36,821 square metres of total rental space, including 33,416 square metres of logistics space, 1,153 square metres of offices, and 2,252 square metres of mezzanine. Construction is already underway, with completion expected by mid-2026. Around half of the space has been pre-let, with further lease negotiations ongoing.
The facility is designed to meet high environmental and operational standards. It will include a rooftop photovoltaic system with a capacity of approximately 2.2 megawatts and will incorporate modern heat pump technology. The building is targeting DGNB Gold certification and will be suitable for 24/7 use, offering a clear internal height of 12.2 metres and floor loading of five tonnes per square metre. The site will also include 170 car parking spaces and five truck spaces.
HIH Invest’s partnership with Nrep is part of a broader strategy focused on value-add investments in logistics and residential real estate across Germany. Nrep is contributing capital through its Nordic Strategies Fund V, which is the largest value-add real estate fund in Europe.
The logistics park is located near the border of Herne and benefits from direct motorway connections to the A42, A43, and A2. It is also close to the Herne container terminal, a key regional transport hub. The site itself is a former brownfield, previously used for coal slag disposal, and is being redeveloped as part of the ‘Green Hub Emscher’ initiative—a sustainable industrial zone featuring low-emission logistics and planned loading infrastructure.
Legal due diligence for the transaction was handled by Ashurst, while CBRE and Dress & Sommer provided commercial and technical advisory services, respectively.
HIH Invest currently manages over €1.2 billion in logistics assets, making it one of the leading logistics property investment managers in Germany.
