Koramco Asset Management announced on December 18 that it has established 'Koramco SC Logistics Real Estate No. 171 Investment Limited Company' and acquired the large-scale logistics center 'Logis Point Yeoju' in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province for approximately 190 billion won.
This deal was executed at a time when the logistics center market, after experiencing significant price adjustments due to oversupply and a liquidity crunch caused by high interest rates, is now entering a recovery phase. The real estate investment industry views this acquisition as a signal that the logistics center market may be entering a full-fledged rebound.
Koramco is being recognized for seizing a distressed investment opportunity by acquiring a newly built logistics center, completed in 2013, below its development cost during a market trough. Recently, Koramco has been actively leveraging price distortions caused by sellers' circumstances in logistics center investments, continuing its strategy of selectively investing in assets with potential for medium- to long-term value recovery.
Logis Point Yeoju is a large-scale, multi-purpose logistics center with a total floor area of approximately 131,000 square meters (about 40,000 pyeong), located at 460-8 Samgyo-dong, Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province. The building has two basement levels and four above-ground floors. Situated near the Yeoju Interchange on the Yeongdong Expressway, it is considered a prime location within the Yeoju-Icheon logistics cluster. With a large floor area of about 6,000 pyeong and a power capacity of around 10,000 kW, it is well-suited for automation and fulfillment operations.
About 45% of the total area has already been leased. Koramco plans to quickly absorb tenant demand by converting some of the remaining cold storage facilities into ambient storage through a value-add approach.
The Yeoju-Icheon area is a key logistics hub in the southeastern metropolitan region, with strong demand from the fashion, 3PL, and e-commerce sectors. However, since last year, new supply has begun to decline significantly. In contrast, the continued expansion of online distribution and companies' shift to 3PL are expected to enable rapid leasing stabilization going forward.
Koramco intends to go beyond simply acquiring the asset at a low price by implementing a value-add strategy that includes ambient conversion construction, leasing stabilization, and operational efficiency improvements to gradually enhance the asset's value, and eventually pursue a sale when the market normalizes. This is a representative example of Koramco's strategy of transforming distressed assets into core assets, applying its accumulated know-how in operations and value enhancement from sectors such as office and data centers to logistics assets.
Jangho Yoon, CEO of Koramco Asset Management, stated, "Although the logistics center market has undergone a short-term correction, the pace of recovery varies significantly depending on location, scale, and specifications. Logis Point Yeoju offers a structure that allows for both leasing stabilization and asset value recovery."
He added, "The lower the market is, the more important it is to focus on the intrinsic value of assets through selective investments. We plan to continue making strategic investments by leveraging distressed opportunities in the future."
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