Unique logistics campus in North Sea Port Ghent

Heylen Group is a Belgian industrial holding company that invests in ambitious companies and entrepreneurs. The group applies a buy-build-and-hold strategy: what it buys, it builds and retains. Central to that strategy are innovation, internationalization and operational optimization. With its eyes firmly fixed on future generations ...

Thanks to a clear vision and the right people, since 2000 Heylen Group has grown into a holding company with more than thirty companies and around 2,800 motivated employees. Today it is active in several European countries and in very diverse sectors, including consumer applications, staffing, food, coin production, fintech, business facilities, events and logistics real estate. The latter branch is in the capable hands of Heylen Warehouses.

Long-term stories

Danaë Stove, Business Development Manager in Belgium at Heylen Warehouses - part of the Heylen Group: "Characteristic of Heylen Warehouses is the way of thinking that transcends the boundaries between generations. Thanks to the combination of driven entrepreneurship, a long-term vision and presence in different countries and sectors, Heylen Warehouses' business model is flexible, resilient and future-proof. We are a creative partner for the development and leasing of high-value logistics and semi-industrial real estate. We offer flexible and sustainable solutions to logistics accommodation issues through built-to-suit developments and the leasing of existing properties. Without exception, we always go for long-term stories and resolutely opt for valuable and lasting client relationships. The DNA of Heylen Warehouses dictates a personal approach and guidance from A to Z at every moment of the process, without neglecting the wishes and dreams of our clients."

Sustainability

"As a creative partner on logistics and warehousing, we asked our customers how we could create added value. And there came a very clear answer: sustainability. Therefore, we are convinced that we can offer our customers more value by investing in green and sustainable solutions. In terms of real estate, this means, among other things, installing solar panels and providing green electricity to our tenants or users. This is how we reduce our customers' carbon footprint. By investing in green energy, we guarantee that our businesses are future-proofed," Danaë Stove continued.    

Power of the right location

Heylen Warehouses recently completed the construction of a state of the art logistics campus in the heart of the North Sea Port area (Port of Ghent). The large-scale logistics campus consists of modern distribution and storage warehouses with a total area of 150,000 m² of warehouses, built on 250,000 m² of land. The campus is divided into units of about 10,000 m². This is in order to meet the needs of different customers in a flexible way. It is therefore possible to combine in all directions - horizontal, vertical and diagonal - allowing the accommodation to grow or shrink according to customer demand.

"Meanwhile, the first customers have already settled down and are active. Connect+ Group, an omnichannel platform for the professional, occupies almost 40,000 m². Eltra, a specialist in electrical do-it-yourself products that supplies more than a thousand stores in Belgium, the Netherlands and Europe, is also renting some 20,000 m² of space. But the biggest customer at the moment is undoubtedly AGP eGlass. The world player in the field of high-tech glass for the automotive industry rents about 60,000 m² of warehouse space, almost half of the total space. All our units have meanwhile been rented for long or shorter terms. This shows once again the strength of the location - North Sea Port - as well as the potential of our top-of-the-line offers of space and modalities in an extremely flexible way," concludes Danaë Stove.