Gazeley - Industrial Development - Switzerland, New Swiss Distribution Centre
Date: 13 Apr 2005
Gazeley, Europe's leading developer of logistics property has started construction works on its first Swiss distribution centre, located at Niederbipp in the District of Berne.
The 30,000 sq m warehouse will be operated by Norbert Dentressangle Logistics who are quoted on the Paris stock exchange and are a leading international provider of transport and logistics services. They will be using the property as a centralized warehouse for its customer Conforama.
Located about 70 kms from Zurich, between the Swiss cities of Basle and Berne, the logistics facility boasts excellent strategic transport connections. The lease agreement has been signed for a ten-year period and in total Gazeley will be investing 40 million Swiss Francs into the 63,440 sq m site. The new facility will create up to 100 new jobs in the region.
Norbert Dentressangle Logistics has been instructed to handle the warehouse management and processing of orders placed by Conforama retail stores all over Switzerland. Conforama is the second biggest furniture group in the world. The bulk of the goods arriving via Basel will be forwarded to the new intermediate storage centre by rail, and will be delivered from there to all Swiss Conforama furniture shops.
Construction works of the building have been assigned to French company GSE, who have been working with Gazeley for several years. GSE is Europe's leading building construction company for turnkey logistics and industrial buildings. Works are scheduled for completion during the last quarter of this year, and partial space of 15,000 sq m will be ready in September. Gazeley will also provide a dedicated rail track to the building.
"We are pleased to say that we were able to grant all the required building permissions for this complex project within just six months from the very first meeting with Gazeley", Peter Haudenschild, President of the Niederbipp Business Development Agency, commented. "Gazeley have been dealing with this project in a highly professional way, involving architects, subcontractors, engineers, and the client right from the start. We were presented with a real estate solution that fitted our community and for which an ideally suited piece of land was made available."
The swift realization of the building permit is also due to a joint effort made by the Niederbipp building administration, the local authorities, the local Board for Water Protection for the district of Berne, and last - but not least - Gazeley/GSE, who all worked closely together to ensure that this building complies with all legal and environmental requirements.
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