
Trilogiport Liège is a multimodal logistic development enjoying an absolute top location, along
the Canal Albert, in Hermalle-sous-Argenteau. As this is the most in-land located container
terminal on the Antwerp-Germany axis, it is no wonder that Deutsche Lagerhaus, one of the
strongest German players in the logistics sector, specialized in multimodal sites, decided to
be involved in what they consider to be an important outpost outside Germany on this site; it
forms an ideal link with the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Together with their Belgian
partner CETIM, Deutsche Lagerhaus Trilogiport have taken up a concession of 300,000 sq.m. of
land, for the development of 150,000 sq.m. of state-of-the-art warehouses, expected to be put
on the market in several phases as from the end of 2012.
Jack Berben, Head of Industrial Agency at Cushman & Wakefield Belgium, comments: 'Whilst
the overall economy is growing in Western-Europe, Germany is currently living an economic boom.
Increasing traffic congestion indicates that logistic locations aiming at sustainable
performances in the future have to adopt multimodal solutions. Trilogiport is a true inland
'extended gateway' of the seaports; the new container terminals on the Canal Albert connect
naturally with the ports of Antwerp, Zeebrugge and Rotterdam; there will be a railway terminal
on site, and a new bridge over the Meuse river will give the site an immediate connection with
the E25 highway. Moreover, Liège is a superior and very central location as far as distribution
to and from the most important European markets is concerned; the large German urban regions
like the Ruhrgebiet are next door, but so are France, the Benelux, and even Northern
Italy'.
Deutsche Lagerhaus have been focusing on inner-port logistics for many years now. They are
currently letting 980,000 sq.m. of warehouses in 26 sites across Germany and Switzerland. Liège
becomes the farthest east-located site, and the gateway by excellence to the Benelux ports. The
container terminal has a surface of 15 ha, and a total of 1850 m of loading docks.
For many years now, Jean-Pierre Staelens, board member of CETIM and a board member of the
advisory board of Deutsche Lagerhaus, has been the main point of contact in the Benelux for
various big German players active in the real estate sector. To him, the fact that Deutsche
Lagerhaus wanted to be involved in Liège in the frame of their expansion comes as no surprise
at all: 'Their 'Deutsche Gründlichkeit' left nothing unexamined. They know how excellent the
location is, of course; but they're also looking at further opportunities for their logistic
clients: availability of a qualitative workforce that is pretty scarce in many regions, level
of education, productivity, and language knowledge are among the qualities of Liège'.
According to Emile-Louis Bertrand , General Manager of the Liège Port Authority ( Port autonome
de Liège), Liège is located in the centre of a dense economic region: 'The port of Liège is
already the third largest inland port in Europe, after Duisburg and Paris. The development of
Trilogiport is of prime importance for its further expansion. In addition to this, the Liège
Airport in Bierset is very close as well: since last year, the Liège Airport is bigger than the
Brussels Airport in terms of cargo freight, and ranks 8th at the European level. When the
Eurocarex high-speed freight trains will become effective, this will be another extra added
value for Liège. For all these reasons, the great expectations around the commercialization of
Trilogiport are no surprise at all. Regarding all these assets Liege Port Authority and the
Albert Canal should hopefully be integrated in the TEN-T core network developed by the European
Commission'.