Sankyu Leases 103,000 SF at Nanko Naka Center

OSAKA, JAPAN-Sankyu Inc., a logistics services company, has leased about 103,000 square feet at the AMB Nanko Naka Distribution Center here. The property, in the heart of the Port of Osaka, is owned by San Francisco-based AMB Property Corp.

Guy Jaquier, AMB's president of Asia, said that the tenant was looking for a large, new building to make distribution networks more efficient. “In Japan, we have seen improvement in our operating portfolio in the second quarter due to the increased export of higher value goods to China. We continue to see customers interested in occupying class A distribution facilities that can help them drive down overall supply chain costs and increase operational efficiencies,” Jaquier tells GlobeSt.com.

Of the company’s total portfolio of 16.2 million square feet of operating and development properties , more than 10.6 millions square feet is in Japan. The focus is on Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, Jaquier says. “We are optimistic about growing our business in Asia, and AMB continues to tap into the rising demand in the Asian markets, where economic growth is expected to outpace the rest of the world,” he says.

Jaquier says Japan is on the front end of a structural shift in its distribution and logistics industry that will require a significant change in the size and configuration of distribution facilities. “Industry observers estimate that as much as 25% of Tokyo's industrial space is obsolete or dysfunctional for modern distribution needs,” he says. “The concentration of facility locations, product obsolescence, channel complexity and land constraints of Tokyo’s industrial market create significant opportunity for experienced developers to bring modern warehousing facilities and practices to targeted submarkets.”