Mapletree Expands Japan Logistics Portfolio into Kyushu with Fukuoka Warehouse

Singapore’s Mapletree Investments has made its first foray into the logistics market of Japan’s third-largest island of Kyushu with the development of a warehouse near Fukuoka.

The first phase of Mapletree Chikushino Logistics Centre is nearing completion this month and will offer 110,744 square metres (1.2 million square feet) of total floor area, Mapletree said Wednesday in a release.

Mapletree has accumulated more than S$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion) in income-yielding logistics properties across Japan, with the sector growing into one of the best-performing and most resilient sectors for the Temasek-owned real estate investor, said Wong Mun Hoong, Mapletree’s regional CEO for Australia and North Asia.

“This steady growth affirms our decision to expand our portfolio into the Kyushu logistics market,” Wong said. “Completing our new development in Kyushu will strengthen our foothold in seven out of the eight regions in Japan and provide more opportunities to bring value to the country’s logistics sector.”

Expressway Access

Mapletree Chikushino Logistics Centre Phase 1 is a four-storey, double-ramp warehouse located one minute by car from the Kyushu Expressway, 20 minutes from Fukuoka Airport and 30 minutes to the southeast of Fukuoka’s central business district. The area is designated for large-scale distribution businesses making use of the expressway’s Chikushino Interchange.

“We believe the strategic location of this facility will be positive in supporting the warehousing needs of such distribution companies,” said Osamu Pedro Ebinuma, CEO of Mapletree Japan. “As of today, the development has attracted strong interests from 3PL companies and others.”

The facility is situated on a land plot measuring 116,319 square metres, which allows for the development of warehouses with a gross floor area of 231,648 square metres, according to Mapletree, which acquired the site for an undisclosed price in 2020 for what it described as a $411 million project. The second warehouse is expected to be completed around the first half of 2024.

Mapletree has S$3.9 billion in assets under management in Japan, including logistics, office, retail and lodging properties, and S$77.4 billion in worldwide AUM.

Sheds Stay Hot

Another Singapore-headquartered builder, GLP, announced last month that its Japan Development Partners IV fund had acquired a plot in a western suburb of Tokyo for the latest super-sized logistics facility in the industrial specialist’s Alfalink series.

At 350,000 square metres, the land buy for GLP Alfalink Akishima is one of the largest ever for a logistics development in Japan. The planned gross floor area of 800,000 square metres places the project in the same mega-scale tier as GLP Alfalink Nagareyama (900,000 square metres across eight buildings) and the recently completed GLP Alfalink Sagamihara (680,000 square metres across four buildings).

In May, Tokyo-listed GLP J-REIT revealed plans to acquire three warehouses across Japan and a partial stake in a fourth shed for a total consideration of JPY 58.2 billion ($420 million). A month earlier, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC announced its purchase of six Japanese warehouses from private equity giant Blackstone for more than $800 million.