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A new trajectory
for logistics real
estate in
Asia Pacific
What are the implications
for investors, developers
and occupiers?
Every month, 3 million people will move to cities in Asia Pacific and 12 million people will join the middle class,
presenting significant growth potential for logistics real estate. The shift to ‘new economy’1 occupiers, increasing
adoption of technology and automations solutions and the rising importance of ESG and human-centric design
requirements all point to a new trajectory for the logistics sector. Ultimately, this new trajectory is supporting the
investment thesis for prime, modern logistics real estate.
1The ‘New Economy’ describes aspects or sectors of an economy that are producing or intensely using innovative or new technologies. This relatively new
concept applies particularly to industries where people depend more and more on computers, telecommunications and the Internet to produce, sell and
distribute goods and services (OECD)
01 02
Structural shifts in asset 5 Operational changes in logistics 12
allocations are driving fund flows real estate underpinning rising
and investments capital allocation
› Fund flows and investments grew strongly › Shift towards ‘New Economy’ occupiers
in 2020 and the first half of 2021
› South Korea, Australia and China › A focus on ESG and human-centric design
considerations
the key beneficiaries
Fund flows and Logistics funds raised in 2020 doubled and continued to accelerate further
in the first half of 2021 as institutional investors started to strategically
investments grew reallocate their portfolios to enhance diversification and resilience. During
strongly in 2020 and the pandemic in 2020, institutional investors grappled with economic
lockdowns, travel restrictions and mandatory work-from-home directives
the first half of 2021 that disrupted rents and occupancies of their retail, hotel and office assets.
Figure 1
Asia Pacific logistics
funds raised by vintage
Source: Preqin, JLL capital markets
research estimates
Figure 2 100
-27%
Asia Pacific 90
transaction volumes 80
by sector 70
USD billion
60
2019 50
40 29% -38%
2020
30
20 -64%
26% -13%
10 67%
Source: JLL capital markets 17%
research estimates
0
Office Logistics Retail Residential Mixed-use Hotel Alternatives Healthcare
Larger deals and In the last four months, there has been a sharp increase in large portfolio
deals in the sector. In April 2021, ESR and GIC jointly acquired a USD 2.9
portfolio transactions billion Australian logistics and industrial portfolio. In the first quarter
are accelerating of 2021, LOGOS invested USD 1.3 billion in Moorebank Logistics Hub in
Sydney while Blackstone acquired a 22 million sq. ft. logistics platform in
India from Embassy and Warburg Pincus for an enterprise value of USD 700
million. In late 2020, Blackstone also invested USD 680 million in a 70%
stake in Guangzhou International Airport R&F Integrated Logistics Park.
Figure 3 8.0 16
5.0 10
Figure 4
Asia Pacific logistics
funds raised by
country focus
2015 - 2019
2020-2021
Doubling of Despite the strong growth in 2020, we expect volumes to accelerate further.
According to ANREV, Asia Pacific institutional investors currently have
investment volumes around 66% of their portfolios allocated to office and retail assets, and just
to USD 50-60 billion 16% and 6% allocated to logistics and residential assets respectively. This
is more skewed than investors in Europe and the US, where about 50% of
in 2023 portfolios are allocated to office and retail assets.
Ideally, portfolio managers would prefer (1) to increase exposure to a third
of their portfolios allocated to defensive sectors including logistics and
residential assets; (2) a third to growth and consumption oriented sectors
including hotels, retail and development and (3) maintain a third to office
assets where liquidity is more abundant, assets are more available for
investments and less operationally intensive.
Figure 5
Asset allocation in
commercial real
estate portfolios Retail
Office
Source: ANREV, JLL capital markets
research estimates Industrial/Logistics
Residential
Healthcare
Student Accommodation
Development
Other
Investing into core More logistics funds with core and core-plus strategies were raised in the last
two years. These funds now make up 40-50% of total logistics funds, from
assets and sale-and- 20-30% five years ago.
leaseback deals As more institutional investors make logistics a core part of their portfolios,
they focus on high quality assets anchored by global or regional occupiers.
These tenants have strong credit quality and can commit to long leases.
Annual rent escalations are also frequently structured into their lease
agreements. These assets are increasingly available as more multinational
e-commerce operators and 3PLs demand more space.
Sale-and-leaseback transactions will likely rise as a result, as these assets
provide a ‘win-win’ solution for the corporate occupier that needs to
monetise the asset for operational needs while allowing the institutional
investor access to a steady rental income stream. Overall, sale-and-
leaseback transactions exceeded 10% of volumes in 1Q2021, from 7% in
2015-2020.
Figure 6
Proportion of core
and core plus funds
raised in Asia Pacific
logistics
Source: Preqin, RCA
1. Continued This is likely to put upward pressure on capital values. In the last three
quarters, logistics assets marketed by JLL have attracted strong bids, with
increase in asset the upper quartile bids reaching 5-9% above asking prices. In comparison,
allocation and funds retail assets attracted upper quartile bids reaching 0.5% above asking prices.
Figure 7
Bid spreads (upper,
lower quartiles and
median) for assets
marketed by JLL
globally
Logistics
Living
Office
Retail
4Q20
2Q20
2Q20
3Q21
3Q20
3Q21
1Q20
4Q20
3Q20
4Q20
2Q20
Markets Research
3Q21
1Q20
3Q20
1Q20
3Q20
3Q21
4Q20
2Q20
Figure 8
Logistics yield
spread over office
yields in 1Q2021
Logistics Yield
Spread
Beijing
Tokyo
Shanghai
Hong Kong
Paris
Seoul
Madrid
Frankfurt
Amsterdam
Sydney
London
San Francisco
Chicago
New York
Los Angeles
3. Attractive yield Wide spreads to costs of debt provide compelling cash on cash yields,
allowing funds and listed REITs to fund additional acquisitions easily. For
spread over cost of instance, in late 2020, Japan’s LaSalle Logiport REIT raised USD 456 million
debt for acquisition of four assets. In 1Q21, Mapletree Logistics Trust acquired five
assets in Korea for USD 250 million reflecting a 4.5% NOI yield, funded using
debt costing of 2.3%.
Figure 9
Cash on cash yield
JLL Capital Markets Research
Singapore
Osaka
Tokyo
Seoul
Hong Kong
Sydney
Melbourne
Shanghai
Beijing
Figure 10
Global prime logistics yields as at 1Q2021
Source: JLL
Relatively low e-commerce penetration rates across many countries in Asia Pacific provide scope for further
expansion. According to recent estimates, business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce revenue in Asia is expected to
rise by a CAGR of 8.2% between 2020 and 2025, from USD 1.44 trillion to an estimated USD 2.12 trillion4. Over this
period, the fashion segment is forecast to record fastest revenue growth, with a CAGR of 9.6%. This will be followed
by toys, hobby and DIY at 9.4%, and then food & personal care at an estimated 8.9% CAGR.
Figure 12
B2C e-commerce
revenue by segment in
Asia
While the B2C e-commerce segment is often highlighted for its growth potential, the business to business (B2B)
segment is a much larger segment with strong growth prospects. According to the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD)5, the global B2B e-commerce market is around five times the size of the global
B2C e-commerce market, with Asia accounting for around 80 percent of the B2B e-commerce market.
B2B markets are inherently more complex, and as such, the B2B market has typically lagged the B2C market in
terms of venture capital funding, technology implementation and innovation. Nonetheless, the pace of innovation
in B2B markets has accelerated, with the COVID-19 pandemic, wider broadband access, and emerging 5G networks,
becoming key catalysts for innovation. This has resulted in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) rising by a CAGR of
13.1% between 2013 and 2019.
Figure 13
B2B e-commerce
Gross Merchandise
Value (GMV)
Asia
RoW
5https://unctad.org/news/global-e-commerce-jumps-267-trillion-covid-19-boosts-online-sales
Advance Automation
surveillance and robotics
systems Automated mobile robots (AMRs)
Video monitoring Stationary robots
Remote gate entry/exit Storage and retrieval systems
Cyber security systems Collaborative robots (cobots)
Warehouse
management
systems Sustainability
Smart LED lighting
Real time inventory tracking
Rainwater collection
Control and order processing
Automated power controls
Preventive maintenance
Logistics technology
ecosystem
Vision technologies Full network
Intelligent cameras/sensors connectivity
Barcode scanners Core IT infrastructure
Vision guided robots WiFi connectivity
Cloud storage
Source: JLL
Nonetheless, with the rapid advancement of technology, and with costs continuing to fall, there is likely to be
greater adoption of technological and automation solutions across a broader group of occupiers. This may
particularly be the case for automation and robotics, where costs have fallen, and where this type of technology
arguably provides greater marginal value in terms of costs vs productivity. Automation and robotics also typically
require less space. This will support further growth in urban logistics where building footprints are smaller.
Figure 14
Average cost of an
industrial robot
Note: An Industrial robot is a programmable, mechanical device used in place of a person to perform
dangerous or repetitive tasks with a high degree of accuracy
Human-centric Design
Human-centric design, which has the overarching objective to maximise
employee wellbeing, has often lagged the ESG agenda. Economics still
play a major role in decision making, and human-centric design often
doesn’t meet the financial return hurdles of developers and occupiers.
When analysing the total operating cost of a distribution centre, the
largest costs are typically 1) transportation costs, 2) labour costs, 3)
inventory carry costs, and 4) rent costs.
After transportation, which can account for up to 50% of costs, labour
costs are also a significant cost consideration, but it was not. However,
historically, labour costs did not heavily influence occupier decision
making. This was because the skill sets and labour were not difficult
to obtain. This has changed in recent years, and attracting and
retaining labour are very important across many markets in the region,
particularly in markets with an ageing population and a stagnating
labour pool. Central to this is improving the labour force’s working
6Global Status Report, 2017 environment.
Advisory
About JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the
future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces
and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual
revenue of $18.0 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of over 92,000 as of September 30, 2020.
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