Cella Management Logistics, an Indonesia-focused industrial platform backed by Jakarta-based developer NWP Property, has broken ground on two logistics projects with a planned 165,000 square metres (1.8 million square feet) of net leasable area.

The pair of projects — a two-storey facility in East Jakarta’s Cakung with 100,000 square metres and a single-storey facility in West Java’s Cileungsi with 65,000 square metres — are part of Cella’s big-box logistics platform aimed at meeting growth driven by the expansion of omni-retail platforms such as NWP’s community malls in Indonesia.

The joint venture of Warburg Pincus-backed NWP, Japan’s CRE Asia and logistics veteran Bonny Setiawan is also on track to complete its first logistics project, a 40,000 square metre built-to-suit facility for DHL Supply Chain in West Java’s Cikarang, during the third quarter of this year, Cella said Wednesday in a release.

“We are extremely pleased to break ground on the two projects,” said Setiawan, Cella’s CEO. “The ability to launch two projects within just a month is a testament to our exceptional execution capabilities as well as the significant market demand for high-grade modern logistics assets.”

Pre-Committed by Clients

The two new projects are to be built with high construction quality and sustainability standards targeting EDGE certification, including a 12 to 14 metre (39 to 46 foot) ceiling height, an up to 4 tons per square metre floor-loading capacity, and sustainability features such as solar panels and energy-efficient equipment.

Both projects have been partly pre-committed by leading customers, reflecting strong underlying demand for high-grade modern logistics assets, Cella said.

The facility nearing completion in Cikarang will boast 14 metres in ceiling height and 4 tons per square metre of floor capacity to support DHL Supply Chain’s Indonesia expansion.

“We are impressed by the strong business momentum and robust pipeline that Cella has built since its establishment and its commitment to excellence in its business pursuit,” said NWP CEO Kevin Kow. “The three strategic projects under construction will cement Cella’s position as a key player in Indonesia’s logistics real estate market.”

Moving Beyond Retail

NWP Property changed its name from NWP Retail in early 2022 as the developer sought to broaden its mission by addressing an undersupply of modern warehouses in Indonesia’s logistics market.

Since its founding in 2015, NWP has grown from four seed projects to over 50 developments spanning more than 1 million square metres of gross floor area in Indonesia’s retail sector.

Setiawan, a former executive director at Swiss banking giant UBS, most recently served as chief executive of Indonesian logistics developer Mega Manunggal Property. MMP under his leadership joined forces with Singapore-based Alpha Investment Partners and Canada’s Manulife on a $200 million Indonesian logistics venture in 2020.

That JV, originally announced in 2019 but delayed by the onset of COVID-19, was created to acquire stakes in three single-tenanted properties and one multi-tenanted logistics facility in the Greater Jakarta area from MMP to create a seed portfolio with a total net lettable area of over 163,000 square metres.

In 2016, MMP entered into a partnership with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC to develop up to 500,000 square metres of logistics warehouses with a focus on the Greater Jakarta and Greater Surabaya regions.