E-Valley: Europe’s largest logistics project now under construction

E-Valley: Europe’s largest logistics hub

With the signing of the building permit on February 5, 2019, E-Valley is ready to break ground. The former Cambrai Air Base will soon become the site of the largest logistics hub in Europe, dedicated to e-commerce and hybrid commerce. This fully-connected, state-of-the-art site will extend over more than 320 hectares. It will be divided into three areas:

• 750,000 m² for a logistics warehouse
• 85,000 m² for a shared services area
• A commercial zone

Split into 3 to 5 phases, the project is scheduled to be completed by 2024 at the latest. “In principle, we are capable of delivering between 100,000 and 200,000 m² of warehouses per year, so that means that everything should be delivered four to five years after the start of construction,” estimates David Taieb, CEO of BT Immo, responsible for the project. This major European smart hub is expected to house about a hundred companies and generate more than 1,500 direct jobs and 1,000 indirect jobs.

E-Valley: One site, three areas

Europe’s biggest logistics hub has been designed to help e-commerce companies operate as easily as possible. The magic words for E-Valley are modularity, innovation, and streamlining. On-site web merchants will enjoy an unparalleled level of service:

• Logistics 3.0 with the latest in robotics and home automation technologies
• Guaranteed 24/7 maximum security
• Everything in one place, including transportation subcontractors, a service station, a hotel, a restaurant, and more

Logistics warehouses

The proposed logistics warehouses will consist of units that can be modified upon demand, starting at 6,000 m². There will be about a hundred of these, for a total volume of 750,000 m².

A shared services area

In addition to their state-of-the-art logistics warehouse, businesses within E-Valley will also have at their disposal:

• shared work spaces: connected and equipped offices, meeting rooms, an auditorium, co-working spaces, etc.
• services that provide high added value to their sales processes: a call center and a photo studio
• a network of providers offering complementary services: service stations, cardboard and packaging manufacturers, mechanical workshops, storage equipment manufacturers and installers, etc.

With this extensive range of services, companies will be able to increase their flexibility, lower their costs, and shorten their turnaround times. Finally, to improve the wellbeing of employees, E-Valley will include a hotel, a restaurant, and an inter-company child day care center.

Out’Net: E-Valley’s commercial zone

Open to the public, this commercial zone is designed to help e-commerce merchants unload their inventory as well as to process returns, similar to a factory outlet store. All products from the on-site companies can be refurbished and sold at an average discount of 50% off the original price of the product.

Benefits of this e-commerce hub in Hauts-de-France

The customs bonded E-Valley allows logistics operators located on the site to avoid VAT and customs duties for all stored goods until they are re-shipped. In addition to this major financial benefit, E-Valley offers advantages that are inherent to its geographical location in Hauts-de-France (France’s #1 logistics region):

• an exceptional environment, open to the world (the Hauts-de-France Region is centrally located within Western Europe) with a vast network of infrastructures offering the benefits of a multimodal hub (highways, airports, the Seine-Nord Europe Canal, commercial ports, and railways). 
• a consumer marketplace with roughly 78 million people within a 300 km radius 
• a network of logistics and e-commerce experts: Euralogistic, a logistics center of excellence / Picom, a retail and e-commerce cluster / Euratechnologies and Blanchemaille, sites of excellence
• a strong talent pool: 6 million residents, of which 33% are younger than 25 years old / 2,000 students within the Euralogistic campus (forklift drivers, order pickers, team leaders, and managers)

To learn more about the logistics sector in the region.  Planning to set up your business in the logistics or e-commerce sector? Contact us!