AMB Leases Big in Europe

AMB Property Corp. (AMB), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently leased approximately 149,000 square feet of its development portfolio in Europe amid signs of stabilization in the industrial property market after a prolonged recession that pushed back the sector.
 
About 86,000 square feet of space were leased to an unnamed European transport and logistics company having a global customer base. The lessee will occupy the space in AMB Hausbruch Industrial Center in Hamburg, Germany.

The leased facility is strategically located in close proximity to the Hamburg Port and is accessible through interstate highways, which connect Hamburg and the Rhine-Ruhr region – the most densely populated and industrialized area of the country. In addition, the leased property has all the state-of-the-art facilities and serves as a role model for industrial development in the region, which is likely to see increased port traffic in 2010.
 
The company also leased 63,000 square feet of space in AMB Fokker Logistics Center 3A in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to UTi Nederland BV, a subsidiary of UTi Worldwide Inc. (UTIW - Snapshot Report) that offers a wide range of integrated logistics solutions across the globe. The facility is adjacent to the Schipol Airport in Amsterdam and provides easy access to highways that connect cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels, and Paris. Consequently, the leased site offers a huge growth potential to the lessee.
 
With improving property values and growing institutional demand for quality properties, AMB has witnessed a growing customer interest in its development portfolio across the globe. In addition, leasing decisions that were earlier postponed due to volatility in the markets are gradually coming off the shelf.
 
AMB is a leading industrial real estate company with a strong portfolio of warehouses and distribution facilities in some of the busiest distribution markets of the globe. The company’s properties are located in supply-constrained infill markets in close proximity to airports, seaports, and ground transportation facilities, which enable swift distribution of customers’ products.
 
AMB operates as a vertically integrated company and enjoys large economies of scale. It possesses an extensive knowledge of domestic and international industrial real estate markets. By the end of the first quarter of 2010, the company had about 14 million square feet of operating and development facilities in Europe.
 
We maintain our Neutral recommendation on AMB with a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates to a short-term ‘Hold’ recommendation. 

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