German-headquartered logistics provider DB Schenker has acquired 14.2 acres of land at the Liffey Business Campus in Leixlip, Co Kildare for a new logistics facility.
The site at the former Hewlett Packard campus will be used to accommodate a new 219,000sq ft unit comprising a 200,000sq ft of warehouse and 19,000sq ft of offices, along with room for a further 50,000sq ft expansion to support the growth of the company's customers in the technology and healthcare markets.
The new unit will occupy a high-profile position within the wider Liffey Business Campus, which the Swiss-based investor Stoneweg purchased from BlackRock Real Estate Assets and the O'Flynn Group for €100 million earlier this year. DB Schenker is understood to have agreed the acquisition of its 14.2 acre site from BlackRock and the O'Flynn Group for around €5.7 million prior to their sale of the wider campus.
Agent CBRE has been appointed by DB Schenker as project manager for the new site, which has already secured full planning permission from Kildare County Council.
DB Schenker is targeting LEED silver certification for its new facility. The property’s sustainability will be enhanced through the provision of 20 electric vehicle charging points, a bicycle park, LED lighting throughout, solar panels to provide renewable power, along with a high emphasis on employee wellness inside the feature Grade A office block.
Technology is also key to DB Schenker’s expansion plans. With this in mind, the facility will include the first AutoStore system in Ireland, an automated storage and retrieval system that is the market leader in storage density.
Construction of the new warehouse is due to get underway at the beginning of August this year with practical completion expected in September 2022.
Supporting
DB Schenker is widely recognised as one of the world’s foremost global logistics providers, supporting industry and trade in the movement of goods through land transport, air and ocean freight, contract logistics and supply-chain management.
The company boasts annual revenues of around €17.7 billion and employs 74,200 workers across 2,100 locations and logistics facilities covering 8.8 million sq m in more than 130 countries across all continents.
It has six locations in Ireland at present – two in Shannon, one in Cork at Harbour Point, and three in Dublin (Swords, Furry Park and Ballycoolin). The delivery of the Liffey Business Campus facility is expected to see DB Schenker increase its Irish employee headcount from its current level of 550 to over 600.
Commenting on DB Schenker’s purchase of, and plans for its site at Liffey Business Campus, the company’s CEO for the UK and Ireland, Ray Hennessy, said: “This latest project will be the fourth significant investment the company has made in Ireland in the past six years and confirms the demand DB Schenker continues to see in Ireland from its expanding customer base for value-add outsourced logistics services.”
