Blackstone Taps AMB Property’s Barzegar for CEO of LogiCor

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

AMB Property Corp.’s loss is LogiCor’s gain. Mo Barzegar has just been hired to serve as president and CEO of LogiCor, the European logistics real estate arm of investment and advisory firm Blackstone.

It’s a brand new gig. As a Blackstone spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive, Blackstone established LogiCor as it built up its European logistics portfolio last year..

Barzegar comes to the table well-equipped to guide LogiCor. At AMB, he was at the helm of a group that orchestrated the acquisition and development of 15 million square feet of European logistics properties with an aggregate value of $1.8 billion. Barzegar also led the charge when AMB made its entrance into the U.K. in 2007.

His is an experience that will serve him well at LogiCor. The U.K. is home to a high percentage of LogiCor’s portfolio, which, along with additional assets in France and Poland, encompasses 26 million square feet of logistics space in 91 premier properties. LogiCor has not offered details regarding its plans in Europe, but given the current state of the logistics market, it is not unlikely that the company will make its way into new territory while expanding its footprint in familiar areas.

As commercial real estate services firm Colliers International notes in a research paper, new centers of consumption and production are emerging and absolute increases in consumer spending are on the horizon across Europe through 2020. “Low wage rates, strong transport links with Germany and central Europe, and independent, floating currencies will prove key in driving manufacturing growth in Eastern Europe in the short to medium-term,” per the report. “In the longer-term better linkages to global supply chains will help to sustain growth–providing the improvements in infrastructure continue.”

And there’s more evidence to support burgeoning opportunities in Europe. “Overall, the largest growth in manufacturing activity in Europe will be in Germany and Poland, whose economies will remain entwined,” according to the Colliers study. “Manufacturing growth in the Czech Republic and Romania will be ahead of forecast increases in Austria, France, Spain and Sweden, further signifying the shift of manufacturing east.

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