Charter Hall secures 10 year pre-lease to online grocery retailer Marley Spoon and commits to construct a major warehouse and distribution facility in Wetherill Park, Sydney

The Charter Hall Prime Industrial Fund (CPIF) has secured Marley Spoon, a market leading online grocery retailer, providing home delivery of weekly meal kits with fresh produce and recipes as an alternative to shopping in grocery stores, to a 10 year pre-lease at a new facility in Wetherill Park, Sydney.

Marley Spoon’s pre-lease is for a 14,200sqm purpose-built, temperature-controlled logistics facility in a strategic location in Sydney’s west. Relocating and expanding from their existing premises in Strathfield, the new facility has been designed to accommodate the significant growth of Marley Spoon and Dinnerly to provide a more efficient supply chain for product to Australian customers.

Demand for more convenient food delivery options has been growing in Australia and has been accelerated by the current pandemic as more customers shift their grocery spend to on-line. MarleySpoon, who currently operates in 8 countries, is backed in Australia by a significant investment from Woolworths Group, who entered into a 5-year strategic partnership last year. Marley Spoon is benefiting from Woolworths’ operational expertise and scale, while gaining access to Woolworths’ various marketing channels.

“Fundamentally, we are seeing a change in peoples shopping habits, as more consumers look to online shopping for convenience and affordability. Over recent years, we’ve been focused on expanding the Marley Spoon offering, as well as introducing Dinnerly, a second more affordable meal kit service; flexibility and choice have been at the heart of both brands, so a larger purpose-built facility will allow further automation and efficiency while also expanding our offering to customers,” said Rolf Weber, Managing Director of Marley Spoon Australia.

Charter Hall’s Head of Development, Industrial & Logistics, Mr Andrew Simons, said, “Charter Hall is pleased to be partnering with Marley Spoon on this purpose-built facility. We are committed to supporting the growth in online grocery retailing and increasing Charter Hall’s substantial portfolio in the food logistics sector.”

Alongside the Marley Spoon facility at 300 Victoria Street, Wetherill Park, Charter Hall has committed to construct a 12,200sqm premium grade logistics facility that will feature a 36 metre super-awning, creating a combined GLA of 26,400sqm. The adjoining logistics facility to the Marley Spoon facility will be built on a speculative basis and will be available for occupation in early 2021.

These two new facilities will comprise the second building in Charter Hall’s Wetherill Park Distribution Centre, having previously committed 11,000sqm to Total Logistics Solutions in a standalone building. When the new building is completed, the overall estate will have a total GLA of 37,400sqm and a completion value of more than $90 million.

The new building is targeting a 5 star Green Star Design and As-Built rating and will incorporate various sustainability initiatives including 500kw solar PV systems, LED warehouse lighting and rainwater harvesting.

Charter Hall’s Industrial & Logistics CEO, Mr Richard Stacker, said “Our ability to deliver high specification, modern logistics space in strategic locations across the Eastern Seaboard continues to attract quality tenant covenants for our real estate funds and their investors. Charter Hall’s Industrial & Logistics development pipeline now exceeds $2 billion, providing the scale and flexibility to satisfy the growth aspirations of our existing and prospective tenant customers, while also delivering high quality real estate and investment outperformance to our investors”.

Charter Hall Prime Industrial Fund’s (CPIF) $5.6 billion portfolio is one of Australia’s largest industrial and logistics portfolios comprising a geographically diverse, high quality portfolio of 75 industrial and logistics assets, underpinned by long-term leases and strong tenant covenants. CPIF is available to wholesale institutional investors. The deal with Marley Spoon was brokered by Raj Chaudhary, Associate Director at CBRE.