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| Photo: Depositphotos.com |
New distribution centres covering a record of nearly two
million m2 – the equivalent of 400 football fields – were built in the Netherlands
in 2017 and still more are planned along the country’s motorways, according to
research by broadcaster NOS.
Many large international companies are queuing up
to distribute their products through the Netherlands despite the shortage of
land and people to staff them, NOS said.There are currently 53,000 unfilled
distribution centre jobs available.
NOS contacted commercial brokers
association NVM Business as well as a number of leading commercial property
firms for its report. ‘We are seeing for the first time that developers are building distribution centres
on spec before they have any tenant or buyer in mind,’ said Liesbeth Kramer of
NVM Business. ‘Demand is enormous.’
Total space covered by distribution centres
in the Netherlands has increased by 40% to more than 30 million m2 in the past
10 years. The most are located in Noord-Brabant province, followed by Limburg.
‘All major high streets from London to Paris
and Germany’s Ruhr region are stocked by warehouses in the southern part
of the Netherlands,’ said Joost Uwents, CEO of Belgo-Dutch developer WDP, which
is the largest in the Netherlands.
Uwents, who is a Belgian national, is full
of praise for the Dutch government which has supported the logistics sector in
a big way. He cites major improvements to the road infrastructure around
Rotterdam and Eindhoven as will as upgrades in the rail and inland waterway
structures.
Tax
The Dutch tax regime – unlike that in in other countries – also benefits distribution activities as
VAT is added only on final delivery of goods, said Richard Elich of property
developer David Hart Group.
And even though the southern part of the country is
generally preferred for distribution centres, the parent of Spanish fashion
group Zara opted for Lelystad for its new distribution centre. ‘Quite simply, they settled there because the
could get both space and staff,’ Uwents said.
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