On Jan 16, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT (CLAR) announced the acquisition of DHL Canal Winchester, a modern Class A logistics property in Columbus, Ohio for $94.5 million, a 3.3% discount to the independent market valuation of the property of $97.7 million as at Jan 1, 2026. The total acquisition cost including fees is $96.4 million. Upon completion of the acquisition, the DHL unit will enter into a long-term leaseback of the property until December 2030 with options to renew for two additional five-year terms. The property’s long weighted average lease expiry of approximately five years comes with built-in annual rent escalation of 3.5%.
The first-year net property income (NPI) yield of the acquisition is approximately 7.4% pre-transaction costs and 7.2% post-transaction costs. The acquisition is marginally DPU-accretive on a pro forma basis. Assuming the acquisition was completed on Jan 1 2024, the DPU accretion is expected to be approximately 0.012 cents or 0.1%.
The property was completed in 2024 and comprises a single-storey logistics building with a gross floor area (GFA) of 755,160 sq ft. Market-leading specifications include a high ceiling with a clear height of 12.2 m (40 feet), cross-dock configuration, multiple points of ingress/egress and LED lighting.
DHL Canal Winchester increases the proportion of modern logistics assets to 52.4% of CLAR’s US logistics portfolio by AUM.
