Medicines, Stem Cells... A New-Generation Warehouse at the Forefront of Kuehne+Nagel France’s Strategy

Operational since late 2023, Kuehne+Nagel’s new import-export air hub, located at the heart of Cargo City at Roissy-CDG Airport, will enable the Swiss group to increase its freight-handling capacity by a factor of 2.5. Leased from Groupe ADP, the developer and investor, and built by contractor GSE, this new 12,900 sq. m real estate facility replaces a former 5,000 sq. m multi-client building previously used in the Paris airport zone. With the opening of this logistics base, Kuehne+Nagel is demonstrating its determination to strengthen its presence in France, at one of Europe’s leading air cargo airports.

Featuring a 6,000 sq. m general cargo area dedicated to luxury goods, high-tech, aerospace, industrial and automotive products, this hub will above all enable the Swiss giant to further develop its Healthcare activities within a 4,500 sq. m temperature-controlled area dedicated to shipping pharmaceutical products, new experimental medicines, biological samples, stem cell cultures... “The Roissy-CDG warehouse is the result of a long-standing, close relationship with ADP to identify a land site that would double the volume-handling capacity, and of the construction by GSE of a building meeting operational performance expectations and the highest environmental standards,” says Armelle Nourry, Real Estate France Director at Kuehne+Nagel. The Roissy-CDG site has therefore achieved BREEAM Excellent certification.

Kuehne+Nagel applies and adapts this approach to the varying requirements of its four business lines: contract logistics, parcel delivery, air freight and ocean freight. “Our real estate strategy covers all 130 of our sites in France, representing 1.5 million sq. m of buildings,” explains Armelle Nourry. In logistics, the group has a network of around 50 warehouses, mainly located along the Lille-Paris-Lyon-Marseille corridor, although most provide on-site services for clients. In parcel delivery, it relies on a network of 56 branches across mainland France.

Kuehne+Nagel favors leasing warehouses from property owners, an occupancy model that gives it the flexibility to align building operating periods with client needs through three-, six- or nine-year leases. “It is with this in mind that we seek to dedicate one warehouse to each client for our logistics activities,” notes Armelle Nourry. Generally, the Swiss group combines the leasing of existing buildings—which it refurbishes and quickly adapts to clients’ requirements—with that of new warehouses, where the real estate department’s role is to identify, as early as possible and together with landlords, suitable land areas for developing real estate facilities tailored to its operational requirements. “Real estate is a central function serving our internal clients, the operational teams, freeing them from all constraints so they can focus on their core business,” she concludes.