ESR Kendall Square Sells Pyeongtaek Warehouse to Samsung SRA for $253 Million
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ESR Kendall Square sold Pyeongtaek Logistics Park to a Samsung SRA Asset Management vehicle backed by South Korea’s National Pension Service for KRW 343 billion ($252.6 million). The transaction closed on 1 September at KRW 1.8 million per square metre of gross floor area.
The deal transfers one of South Korea’s largest modern sheds from foreign pension backing to domestic institutional ownership. ESR built the 2023-vintage facility with capital from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Dutch asset manager APG. Samsung SRA funded the acquisition through a KRW 400 billion core fund that drew KRW 250 billion from the National Pension Service alongside capital from Samsung-affiliated insurers.
Hub for Port and E-Commerce
Pyeongtaek Logistics Park spans 190,000 square metres across a 165,827-square-metre site in the Poseung district of the Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone. E-commerce platform SSG.com pre-leased the entire ambient facility in late 2021 before ground broke.
Located three kilometres from Pyeongtaek Port, the property features direct ramp access to every floor, high ceilings, South Korea’s largest single-floor warehouse footprint, and 10 megawatts of power capacity. Logistics inventory in Pyeongtaek expanded more than 1.7-fold between 2022 and mid-2025 as third-party logistics firms and end-users absorbed space near regional automotive and electronics clusters.
Capital Flows Shift Domestic
Institutional buyers are moving on cash-flowing assets in South Korea as new warehouse construction drops sharply from post-pandemic peaks. Overseas capital accounted for more than 60 percent of industrial trades in 2025, but Korean managers with long-term domestic mandates are now securing completed, fully leased assets as supply eases and ambient rents start to climb.
Greater Seoul logistics net absorption rose 42 percent to 164,000 square metres in the second quarter, while nominal rents reached $7.65 per square metre per month. Investors are tracking second-half completions, which fell to one-third of their year-earlier level, to test how quickly remaining vacancies tighten across the capital region.
Questions & Answers
Q.What is the primary reason domestic institutional buyers are currently acquiring assets in South Korea?
What is the primary reason domestic institutional buyers are currently acquiring assets in South Korea?
Domestic institutional buyers are moving on cash-flowing assets as new warehouse construction drops sharply from post-pandemic peaks. They are securing completed, fully leased assets as supply eases and ambient rents start to climb.
Q.Which entities initially provided capital for the development of Pyeongtaek Logistics Park?
Which entities initially provided capital for the development of Pyeongtaek Logistics Park?
ESR built the facility with capital from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Dutch asset manager APG. This supported the creation of the 2023-vintage logistics park.
Q.How did Samsung SRA Asset Management finance the acquisition of the Pyeongtaek warehouse?
How did Samsung SRA Asset Management finance the acquisition of the Pyeongtaek warehouse?
Samsung SRA funded the acquisition through a KRW 400 billion core fund. This fund drew KRW 250 billion from the National Pension Service, supplemented by capital from Samsung-affiliated insurers.
Q.What was the level of e-commerce pre-leasing for the Pyeongtaek Logistics Park before its construction began?
What was the level of e-commerce pre-leasing for the Pyeongtaek Logistics Park before its construction began?
E-commerce platform SSG.com pre-leased the entire ambient facility in late 2021 before ground broke. This secured a tenant for the modern shed from its inception.
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