When a Nato military base in Hauts-de-France was decommissioned in 2012, property developer David Taieb saw an opportunity. He was looking for a site to accommodate a logistics facility big enough to support growing demand for online shopping and offer warehousing flexibility to growing firms. The following year, BT IMMO, the French asset manager that Mr Taieb heads, acquired the former airbase in Cambrai and started converting the 320-hectare site into Europe’s biggest e-logistics platform. 

“The main thing is we have three million sq m, which is normally not available on the market today,” says Mr Taieb. “That was the advantage.” Since breaking ground in 2019, nearly 400,000 sq m of warehouses have been built and another 150,000 sq m are expected to complete by mid-2025. 

The six years that elapsed between purchasing the land and breaking ground are testament to the difficulties of converting a military base into a logistics facility. In addition to demolishing the buildings and remediating pollution caused by military activities, there were unforeseen difficulties. “I thought the site had electricity, so we could use that power. Unfortunately, the army system is not the same as the normal system. So we had to redo the power system. It was the same for water and internet,” says Mr Taieb. “That took more time and more money.”

E-Valley is referred to as an e-logistics platform because it was designed with fluctuating e-commerce turnover in mind. Among its 12 tenants today is French online retailer La Redoute. But the prospect of expansion space is attracting normal logistics business, too. Its newest tenant is the Netherlands’ AB Inbev, the world’s biggest brewer, which signed a nine-year lease last November. “They’ve started with 62,000 sq m and have the right to extend to 90,000 sq m, just by asking us,” says Mr Taieb. “We have the space. That’s why AB Inbev came to us.”

E-Valley received a financial boost in 2021 when Canadian asset manager Brookfield acquired a 50% stake in the project, thanks to its formation of a joint venture with BT IMMO called Castignac which absorbed the latter’s properties. They have collectively invested €400m in the project to date, and Mr Taieb expects them to inject another €400m going forward. 

Location drawcards

The vision behind E-Valley is for it to become a complete business ecosystem. Beyond warehouses, it will have offices, manufacturing spaces and shared services areas for packaging, transport and repairs. Four of its tenants are staffing groups, including Manpower and Adecco, which will train workers to E-Valley’s needs. “If somebody needs a driver, or workers for e-commerce peak season, for example, they will train them and then go directly to those jobs,” says Mr Taieb.

E-Valley has also struck agreements with two French universities, UPHF and ISTELI, to increase its logistics capabilities. A project of this magnitude in a region suffering industrial decline, and with an unemployment rate that exceeds the national average, has important spillovers. “E-valley has brought 1300 people back to work,” says Mr Taieb, referring to the number of workers on site.   

Its location at the crossroads of various countries brings benefits to tenants, too. “Within 300km, which is considered a one-day [trip], you can deliver to about 250 million people in Belgium, the UK, France and Germany,” says Mr Taieb. Looking ahead, its plans to deliver goods via drones is supported by the ongoing development of the Seine–Nord Europe Canal which sits just 300m away. The 107km waterway will provide an unobstructed path for drones, says Mr Taieb, avoiding the risks and complaints that come with flying over urban areas. 

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This article first appeared in the April/May 2024 print edition of fDi Intelligence.