ESR Breaks Ground on Osaka Logistics Park Touted as Largest in Japan

Industrial giant ESR has begun construction of a warehouse complex northwest of Osaka, billing the project as Japan’s largest-ever logistics park with a planned gross floor area of 750,000 square metres (8 million square feet).

Located 30 minutes from Osaka and an hour from Kobe and Kyoto in Honshu island’s Kansai region, ESR Kawanishi Distribution and Techno Park will serve as a logistics hub for western Japan, Hong Kong-listed ESR said Friday in a release.

The development targets tenants across various industries, including logistics, e-commerce, transport and retail, as well as those involved in increased manufacturing activity spurred by reshoring back to Japan.

“We are delighted to invest in and drive Japan’s hub status in global e-commerce and supply chain flows amid an undersupply of modern large-scale logistics facilities,” said ESR co-founder and co-CEO Stuart Gibson.

Rezoning Creates Giant

ESR had announced the Kawanishi project in March of last year, with the first phase originally conceived as two six-storey warehouses totalling 197,797 square metres of GFA.

After working with the local government on a rezoning of the 505,281 square metre site, the company now plans to develop 250,000 square metres of combined GFA at the pair of buildings, which are to be completed by the first half of 2025.

A similar rezoning process is underway for the project’s second phase, which will break ground in 2025 and allow for an additional 500,000 square metres of distribution space, ESR said. Each floor at the park’s four facilities can be subdivided into three sections with a minimum GFA of 3,300 square metres.

ESR Kawanishi Distribution and Techno Park is four kilometres (2.5 miles) from Kawanishi interchange of the Shin-Meishin Expressway and a two-minute walk from Ichinotorii railway station. The CASBEE A-rated complex will feature self-generated solar energy for tenants, along with employee amenities like 24-hour shops and a daycare centre.

Suzhou Sheds Completed

Also on Friday, ESR announced the completion of ESR Taicang Dongyouyue Industrial Park in Suzhou, adding 227,266 square metres of GFA to the group’s China portfolio.

Located in Suzhou’s Taicang City in Jiangsu province, about an hour’s drive northwest of Shanghai, the newly finished three-storey complex “enjoys a superior geographical location” with proximity to several expressways, according to co-founder and co-CEO Jeffrey Shen.

Backed by shareholders including the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Singapore sovereign fund GIC and China’s JD.com, ESR manages $150 billion in total assets across Asia Pacific, Europe and North America.