ERFURT, GERMANY-Zalando, a Berlin-based online retailer that specializes in shoes and fashion, has hired Sydney-based Goodman Group to build an 840,000-square-foot logistics center here at the freight terminal. The retailer will lease the property for 16 years once it is delivered in August 2012.

The building will feature about 765,000 square feet of distribution space, as well as a 75,000-square-foot office. The distribution area will have 55 truck and trailer spaces, 46 loading docks and space for expansion.

The retailer originally only sold shoes, but now offers more than 1,000 well-known brands in footwear, clothing, accessories and beauty products. Rubin Ritter, the retailer’s managing director, said in a statement that his company expects expansion will be necessary, and that this building is the next step toward that. “Zalando is expecting further growth in Germany and in the international markets,” Ritter said.