PRAGUE-DHL Logistics continues to ramp up its presence in this expanding distribution market, taking down another 425,000 sf at ProLogis Park Prague-Jirny, a master-planned industrial complex that has six buildings featuring modern office and warehouse space. After previously securing two other new buildings, DHL now leases 1.07 million sf of the two million sf available at the park, which is being developed by Denver-based ProLogis.

"We are very pleased to have signed these new agreements with DHL," says ProLogis SVP Michael de Jong-Douglas, regional director for Central and Eastern Europe. The REIT considers the Czech Republic "a prime location for distribution logistics," Jong-Douglas explains, citing the country's low cost of living, deep labor pool and proximity to key markets in the region. "Combined with recent transportation infrastructure improvements and a revived economy, demand for our high-quality warehouse facilities from retailers, manufacturers and third-party logistics providers continues to grow."

DHL concurs with that outlook, says the firm's managing director for the Czech Republic, Filip Budik. ProLogis has assembled a "strategic portfolio of land and assets," says Budik, whose operation now leases 2.65 million sf of ProLogis space in Central and Eastern Europe. "We look forward to occupying our new facility at ProLogis Park Prague-Jirny." The complex, he predicts, "will allow [DHL] to improve the flexibility and efficiency of our regional logistic processes and to distribute goods on a larger scale." Inefficiencies in older stock have hindered delivery of goods, but Budik says the Prague park provides flexible space and a property with quick roadway access to the D11 motorway. Downtown Prague is about 25 miles east.

DHL is a subsidiary of Deutsche Post World Net Group, a German conglomerate whose businesses include logistics, mail handling and financial services. The organization has a three-continent relationship with ProLogis, occupying more than 12 million sf from the REIT in Asia, Europe and North America. As of Q3, ProLogis developing, managed or owned more than 29 million sf in Central and Eastern Europe, with a focus on the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.