From left: David Gilbert, Alistair Calvert
NEW YORK CITY—Industrial is the hot asset and Clarion Partners is chasing it, expanding into both Eastern and Western Europe. The US real estate management firm has acquired a majority stake in Gramercy Europe (Jersey) Limited which focuses on pan-European logistics and industrial assets. Gramercy Europe will become an operating business of Clarion and will be renamed Clarion Gramercy, maintaining its offices in London, Berlin and Barcelona.
A spokesperson for Clarion tells GlobeSt.com that this is their first foray into Europe. The story of e-commerce taking its toll on brick-and-mortar retail and the rise of the industrial sector is a well-known narrative in the US. As Europe is a bit behind the US in the Amazon effect, the spokesperson explains that now is a good time for Clarion to invest—going where there are the best opportunities.
Clarion has $50 billion of assets under management with a strong foothold in US warehouse and distribution assets. This move strengthens that strategy extending into European markets.
“Clarion Gramercy and its seasoned team are a natural extension of Clarion's leadership position in the US, managing a $16 billion, 700-property portfolio of logistics assets,” says David Gilbert, CEO of Clarion Partners. “We are pleased to be in position to expand our product offerings to investors and to satisfy existing tenants that have needs beyond the Americas.”
Gramercy Europe's CEO, Alistair Calvert, will remain in his position, now leading Clarion Gramercy. Formerly, Calvert was head of the European office for W. P. Carey, one of the largest global real estate investors, which also has particular strength in industrial assets. In 2006, Calvert founded ThreadGreen Partners, which Gramercy Property Trust acquired in December 2014 and rebranded as Gramercy Europe. Since then, Calvert and his team have handled over $3 billion of real estate transactions in Europe.
Calvert states those on the Gramercy Europe management team have consistently identified, acquired, managed and disposed of institutional quality properties in key logistics locations throughout Western Europe, to the benefit of investors.
“We plan to continue capitalizing on the expansion of the undersupplied European logistics property market and leveraging the deep relationships that we have built with some of Europe's leading businesses,” says Calvert. “We expect ongoing demand from a range of occupiers that span Europe and the US, fueled by the growth in ecommerce and expanded trade.”
Legg Mason is a majority owner of Clarion Partners. The investment management firm states it's pleased to collaborate with Clarion on the deal and welcomes the Gramercy team to Clarion.
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Betsy Kim
Betsy Kim was the bureau chief, East Coast, and New York City reporter for Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. As a lawyer and journalist, Betsy has worked as the director of editorial and content for LexisNexis Lawyers.com, a TV/multi-media journalist for NBC and CBS affiliated TV stations in the Midwest, and an associate producer at Court TV.
