KLM to develop new logistics facility in Trnava with help from Crowdberry investors
20/09/2021
Update: The Trnava logistics facility construction on schedule
Trnava’s largest business zone is expanding to include a distribution hall for fast package processing. Slovak developer KLM real estate is building it for its client Slovak Parcel Service, the largest courier company in Slovakia. For the first time in Slovak history, a group of individual investors will also be financially involved in its development via the Crowdberry platform, marking a new era for industrial development, which until now has been reserved exclusively for international real estate investors.
Slovak development company KLM real estate, which has been successfully operating on the market for nearly 20 years and has dozens of real estate projects under its belt, obtained a building permit and has begun construction of a new forwarding hall in the growing business zone of Trnava. Slovak Parcel Service (SPS) will operate the facility as a cross-dock workplace for the rapid processing of orders from online stores and redistribution of goods to customers. The 1,400 m2 hall will be built on a plot covering approximately 10,000 m2 near the stores of large retail chains OBI, Mountfield, Siko, Sconto and Jysk, and near the PSA car plant and CTP industrial park. The land designated for the hall is intended for further expansion of the forwarding facility, which will be part of the basic infrastructure and is a prerequisite for the further development of online commerce.
Logistics developments like that for Slovak Parcel Service are opening up to individual investors
The pandemic has accelerated the development of e-commerce. The increase in the number of e-shops, as well as changes in consumer shopping habits, are proving beneficial to carriers and courier services. The requirements for faster order processing and direct delivery to the customer have created greater demand for cross-dock halls. These are the basic infrastructure of online trading and an essential prerequisite for its further development.
The online share of European retail sales hit more than 16% in 2020. It was only 4.6% in Slovakia, but the growth rate is rapid, averaging 25% a year over the last four years, offering huge potential opportunity for Slovak investors. The construction of a forwarding hall in Trnava for SPS is one example, which for the first time in the history of Slovakia will allow individual investors to participate in such a construction through the Crowdberry investment platform.
“When financing the project in Trnava, we reached for innovative options for financing our development activities through capital investments. We wanted to try it out in the development of logistics real estate. It was important that it would also allow us to expand our portfolio and company. It has the potential for flexible financing of our projects, long-term cooperation with investors, and attractive conditions. Even now, I can already say that it has worked for us, and we plan to continue. Through the Crowdberry platform, we’ve already raised capital for other projects as well – a logistics hall in Nitra and a retail park in Piešťany,” says Michal Kozáček, a member of the KLM Board of Directors.
“The real estate sector remains attractive for investors due to its stability, both in times of the pandemic and as protection against inflation. This is especially true for certain segments such as logistics. While this area used to be reserved exclusively for large international investors, development today is opening up to individual investors as well. The first logistics case in Slovakia is the development of the distribution hall in Trnava; its developer, KLM real estate, has decided to open up to this kind of capital. For individual investors, the chance to enter into a professionally prepared real estate project, co-own it directly with the developer, and participate in the developer’s profit is a unique chance and essentially unique in Slovakia,” says Crowdberry’s Peter Bečár.