Construction of storage buildings in France

New storage construction performed rather strongly last year with a rate of growth of +23%: 4,7 million m² have been built last year in France. A record!

2017 was an exceptional year for the French logistics market, which hit a record level. For the first time, new storage construction (Warehouses, cold storages, silo buildings, other specialized buildings) exceeded 4 million m².

Economic growth, the diversification of occupiers’ needs, new challenges posed by e-commerce and the streamlining of supply chains of large retailers have prompted some occupiers to opt for new platforms, often on a large scale. Consequently, the 10 biggest deals in 2017 alone accounted for over 20% of overall take-up.

Geographically, Île-de-France is by far in the lead with over 1.9 million m² transacted over the last 12 months vs. an average of 860,000 m² between 2007 to 2016. This figure is all the more remarkable in that it is the first time ever that any French logistics market has seen such high take-up in a single year. Boosted by the performance in Ile-de-France, most of the deals of the year were on the North-South axis. The Regions (excluding the North-South axis) were busy too, with take-up of 1.1 million m² again above the 10-year average.

The rate of growth is expected to slow down in 2018 but the market will continue to grow driven by the flexible manufacturing trend and increasing e-trade.