Why logistics companies are setting their sights on the Centre-Val de Loire region

When you drive along the A10 motorway at Artenay (Loiret) or the A11 at Illiers-Combray (Eure-et-Loir), you see large or even very large building sites that will eventually house logistics companies.

However, there is no shortage of buildings of over 10,000^m2 intended to store goods in the region. According to Dev'up, the economic development agency for the Centre-Val de Loire region, logistics companies represent :

1,180 establishments ;
6 million^m2 of warehouse space (600 hectares).

Eol, a company specialising in logistics transactions and business activities, states that the region is the^5th largest logistics hub in France. In particular, it hosts more than 10% of XXL platforms of more than 40,000 m².

20 logistics projects

This is not the end of the story, since according to EOL, several projects of more than 40,000^m2 are on the table, including four in the Artenay-Poupry area. In all, the company currently has about twenty operations in the Centre region (see box), either projects for which planning permission has been granted or projects that are currently under examination.
If the Centre-Val de Loire, and more specifically the northern part, attracts logistics companies, it is for several reasons:

Proximity to Paris.
The road network: nine motorways criss-cross the region, and all the projects are located along these routes.
The price of land

According to EOL, the average rent in the Île-de-France region is between €51 and €53 per^{square metre}, compared with €40 to €43 per^{square metre} in the Centre-Val de Loire region for existing premises, and €44 per^{square metre} for new premises. This is one of the least expensive areas in France, along with Lille.

"A very clear rebound

Arnaud Veto, Eol logistics consultant in the Centre-Val de Loire region, has noted a "very clear rebound over the last three weeks - one month", after another complicated year in 2020.

He also points out that there are slightly fewer offers for logistics buildings in the west and south of the Paris region, which partly explains why companies are looking elsewhere and therefore "a real dynamism in the Centre-Val de Loire region".

Today, if we receive a request from the west or south of Paris, we don't hesitate to offer sites in the Centre region," he says. The client wins on the rent per^m2 and on the charges and taxes. "

In fact, in the Ile-de-France region, "there arewarehouse taxes, office taxes, and a whole host of other taxes that immediately raise the bill," he explains.

The explosion of e-commerce

But not all the groups that need storage space are from outside the Centre-Val de Loire region. There are also players already established in the region who are signing up for new programmes, particularly in the Orleans market.

The consultant gives the example of theCosmetic Park in Boigny-sur-Bionne(Loiret), a vast 80 hectare logistics complex. Dior has expanded there, and L'Oréal has set up shop in the latest generation buildings.

There are also companies that are expanding because their turnover is exploding: this is notably the case in e-commerce, withAosom France which, after Droue-sur-Drouette (28) last October, has set up in Mer (41).

A region with little development

E-commerce companies, but also and above all large-scale distribution and logistics service providers, are only tenants of these huge buildings of at least 10,000^m2, built by developers.
The latter are interested in the Centre-Val de Loire because there is also room: it is one of the least developed regions in France, according to a study by INSEE. In 2018, artificial land represented 4.4% of the land, compared with an average of 5.6% elsewhere in France.

In 2018, the Centre-Val de Loire was predominantly made up of agricultural land: 72% compared to 59% in France.

An acceleration in sales

Safer du Centre (Société d'aménagement foncier et d'établissement rural) has listed for us all sales to to a private buyer, larger than one hectare and whose destination is an individual or collective local development project.

It already warns that these data correspond to logistical structures but may also include solar panel fields. "But this alone would not explain the very marked increase in recent years," says Safer du Centre, which notes "an acceleration in sales in recent years.

If we only look at the last three years, the trend would be downwards, but this is a deception because we are dealing with a very high volume of artificialisation," she analyses.Between 2018 and 2020, there will be an average of 54 sales acts for an average of 380 ha. That is an increase of 13% compared to the period 2015-2017."

It is also necessary to take into account the very particular year 2020 with the health crisis that has frozen the country for several months.

Vigilance of the agricultural profession

Faced with this perceived property pressure, the agricultural profession is showing "vigilance": "even if we still have a lot of agricultural space, we must not let it be nibbled away", assures Edith Chardon, project manager at the Centre-Val de Loire Chamber of Agriculture.

The Chamber's vigilance is all the more important because farmers do not necessarily have a say: "In the Centre region, they do not all own their land, far from it," exclaims the officer. It is estimated that 60 to 70% of agricultural land is rented out.

However, compensation mechanisms have been put in place. On the one hand, when plots of land are sold, the tenant farmers receive compensation for the loss of land. "We are careful to ensure that it is bearable for them," explains Edith Chardon.

On the other hand, since 2016, there has been a system of agricultural compensation, copied from the principle of environmental compensation.This is known as the ERC principle: avoid, reduce and compensate," she explains. For any infrastructure project, builders are obliged to avoid impacting on the natural environment; if this cannot be avoided, the right-of-way must be reduced; and if it cannot be avoided, the right-of-way must be reduced.If they cannot avoid, they must reduce the right-of-way; and if they cannot avoid or reduce the right-of-way, they must compensate by buying another space" dedicated to farmers or agriculture.

26,556 jobs

But this compensation is not enough to allay concerns: "The Orleans metropolis will soon benefit from a^4th motorway exit at Saran/Gidy, which is likely toThe Orléans metropolitan area will soon benefit from a fourth motorway exit at Saran/Gidy, which couldlead to further pressure on the area," explains David Meot, head of the economic development department at the Loiret Chamber of Agriculture.

Land pressure" on agricultural land that is considered "good" and that generates "not many jobs"is how the agricultural world sees the logistics sector.

If the land take is indeed important, the question of employment is difficult to verify. According to Dev'up, the logistics sector accounts for 26,556 jobs in the region, with multinationals such as Amazon, DHL or XPO Logistics as employers.

But at present, out of the twenty or so projects identified, only two or three have clear recruitment objectives (see box).

Logistics projects by department in March 2021

In Eure-et-Loir, seven projects have been identified, including :

the expansion of All Tricks in Châteaudun(24,000^m2);
the construction of a large capacity area in Illiers-Combray covering 65 hectares. If there are no delays, a first warehouse of 120,000^m2 will be built. Eventually the community of municipalities hopes to create a thousand jobs;
an 18,000^m2 logistics platform in Chartres (to be delivered within a year);
the development of an 80,000^m2 platform in the town of Auneau;
the opening of new buildings in the Poupry area (18,000^sq.m. launched and delivered in July 2021 out of a total of 43,000^sq.m.).

In the Loiret :

three projects of more than 40,000^m2 in the Artenay area (one of 47,000^m2 being completed, one of 95,000^m2, and one of 45,000^m2);
a 74,000^m2 building in Boisseaux;
a project to extend the FM Logistic site by 45,000^m2, at Escrennes, with recruitment at stake (140 jobs);
in Escrennes, the development of a 30,000^m2 logistics platform by JMG Partners;
a new 102,000^m2 warehouse being built by Mountpark in Meung-sur-Loire, with more than 250 permanent jobs expected;
the creation of an "ecopark" on a40-hectare area in Ferrières-en-Gâtinais;
the Cosmetic Park at Boigny-sur-Bionne.

In the Loir-et-Cher :

At Mer, the Panhard project is under construction with "several hundred jobs " at stake;
again at Mer, a logistics platform developed by Alsei which will offer 37,000^m2 by the end of 2022;
land has been sold inRomorantin-Salbris to create a high-capacity zone.

In the Cher :

Sider, a company based in Buzançais (130 employees), is carrying out an extension project of 6,000^m2 to reach a total surface area of 24,000^m2. It is currently recruiting.

Sources: Eol, Dev'up, Chambre d'agriculture du Centre-Val de Loire.
Source: France 3 Centre-Val de Loire
Link: https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/centre-val-de-loire/pourquoi-les-entreprises-de-logistique-jettent-leur-devolu-sur-la-region-centre-val-de-loire-1995988.html
Author: Julie Postollec