San Francisco-based AMB Property Corp., a leading owner and operator of industrial real estate, expanded its global network of air cargo and logistics facilities with the purchase of 1.3 million square feet of properties in Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid and Tokyo. When complete, the new acquisitions and developments are expected to total $108.4 million. "Global trade growth is spurring strong demand for well-designed distribution facilities at major transportation hubs worldwide," said Hamid R. Moghadam, AMB's chairman and chief executive officer. "Our customers -- who are the leading players in global trade -- require modern, well-located facilities to quickly and cost-efficiently move high-value, time-sensitive goods to market." Moghadam said that AMB targets Paris' Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt's International and Madrid's Barajas airports because they are among the busiest airports for cargo in Europe. He added that Tokyo, including Narita International, is targeted for two reasons: its critical location in distribution networks serving Asia, and the opportunity to introduce supply chain efficiencies through facility consolidation. AMB specializes in what it terms High Throughput Distribution(R) facilities -- cargo and logistics centers which are built for speed and located near major transportation hubs. The acquisitions and developments announced are: In Paris, AMB purchased the newly constructed Bourget Distribution Center, a 354,000-square-foot, Class-A warehouse with direct access from the A-1 motorway to both central Paris and Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG). The property is 100 percent leased to La Poste, France's largest and Europe's second largest postal company. Bourget Distribution Center, acquired for $30.3 million, includes land for more than 100,000 square feet of expansion and represents AMB's third acquisition in the CDG submarket. In Frankfurt, AMB enters Europe's number one cargo airport market by volume with the $19.7 million purchase of FRA Logistics Center at Frankfurt International Airport. The 164,000-square-foot distribution building is in Cargo City South, the zone reserved for airlines and their freight-forwarding and cargo-handling partners. Concurrent with its purchase, AMB signed a lease for the entire property with SFS, the European division of Worldwide Flight Services, a leading provider of ramp, passenger, cargo and technical services at major airports globally. Worldwide Flight Services is an existing customer of AMB at five airport locations. The property has 60,000 square feet of expansion potential. In Madrid, AMB and its joint venture partners, Codina Group and Torimbia, were awarded the exclusive right to develop 449,000 square feet in buildings immediately adjacent to Madrid's Barajas Airport. The project site is across the street from the eastern perimeter of the airport's cargo zone and will provide customers with outstanding distribution access to one of Europe's top ten cargo airports. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2004 and is expected to total $22.5 million. Finally in Tokyo, AMB purchased Saitama Distribution Center, comprised of two multistory warehouses totaling 363,000 square feet. Located five minutes from the Kanetsu Expressway in Tokorozawa, metropolitan Tokyo, the facilities provide exceptional distribution access throughout greater Tokyo and inland destinations in northern Japan. The buildings, acquired for $35.9 million, are 100 percent leased to Japanese subsidiaries of the multinational manufacturing and distribution companies Pioneer Shared Services, Honda Express and Bridgestone Sports. The acquisition complements the company's previously announced development at Tokyo's Narita International Airport. AMB and its local market partner, AMB BlackPine, expect to begin construction by the second quarter of 2004 on the first of four phases of AMB Narita Air Cargo Center. When completed, the Narita project, at more than 1.4 million square feet, is expected to be Japan's largest dedicated air cargo logistics park. It will provide tenants with access to the airport's main cargo gate within a 10-minute drive time. Expected total investment in the project is $150 million.