Panattoni to Develop New Facility for Lear Corporation

Panattoni Europe, a leading developer of warehouse and logistics space, has commenced operations on a new 30,000 square meter warehouse facility for Lear Corporation.   Lear Corporation, a leading global supplier of automotive seating and electrical power management systems, has over 100,000 employees around the world  and 17 facilities in Germany.   

The project is being developed as part of the joint venture between Panattoni and Pramerica Real Estate Investors.  The new facility will be 100% leased by Lear and will be situated in Bremen's Hansalinie Business Park.   The park is located immediately adjacent to the A1 motorway, connecting Hamburg, Bremen and Germany's core industrial region.   Construction works for the facility commenced in June 2012 and the project is scheduled for completion prior to the end of the year. The facility will serve as a relocation of Lear's existing operation in Bremen, from which it has served several large clients in the automotive sector for  nearly 20 years. The new, state-of-the-art facility will allow Lear to optimize its processes and accommodate larger product volumes as demand for its  products and services continues to grow.

Frank Freitag of CB Richard Ellis, Hamburg provided brokerage services for the transaction.

"Panattoni is pleased to have the opportunity to provide Lear with a facility solution that plays such an essential role in Lear's German operation.  We look forward to working closely with Lear to complete this project and to expand the relationship further.  In addition, we are quite pleased to continue Panattoni's rapid growth in the German market," said Jason Bennett, Panattoni's Managing Director for Northern Europe. 

Panattoni Europe is part of the Panattoni Development Company, one of the largest industrial/warehouse developers in the world, with offices across North America and Europe. Since entering Europe in 2004, Panattoni Europe has developed over 1.7 million square meters of space.

Pramerica Real Estate Investors ("Pramerica") is a leader in the global real estate investment management business, offering a broad range of investment vehicles that invest in real estate equity and debt opportunities in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Latin America.  Pramerica has a global presence with 24 locations in the United States, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Latin America and manages over $51.3 billion in gross real estate assets ($33.4 billion net as of 31 March 2012) invested in over 30 countries on behalf of over 490 investors worldwide. 
Pramerica has been managing real estate investments for clients since 1970 when it pioneered the use of the open-end, commingled equity real estate fund, offering U.S. investors access to a diversified investment in core commercial real estate. Since then, Pramerica's investment management activities have expanded to include higher returning strategies offered through a series of open and close-end diversified commingled funds and separately managed accounts which span the risk spectrum from core to opportunistic.