Mercator specialises in the retail and wholesale of fast-moving consumer goods, and its new space will be used for the company’s new Serbian distribution centre, with the aim of centralising all its warehousing requirements under one roof. The business wants to further improve the efficiency behind its point-of-sale network in Serbia of almost 300 Idea branded retail stores, 33 Roda supermarkets, two Mercator hypermarkets and four Velpro wholesale centres.

Mercator has taken approximately 68,000 sqm of space on a 15-year lease, at a new circa 110,000 sqm building currently under construction at CTPark Belgrade City that is almost 80% pre-let now. Mercator will occupy around 59,000 sqm of warehouse space and 4,000 sqm of mezzanine space, with an additional 1,000 sqm of office space and around 3,000 sqm of sanitary space.

CTPark Belgrade City will comprise 135,000 sqm of industrial floorspace in total when complete. Situated in New Belgrade, the largest municipality in the capital, CTPark Belgrade City is perfectly located for last-mile and city logistics, being less than 10km away from the city centre and only 10km from Belgrade Airport. With unit sizes starting from 2,500 sqm the modern park is also ideal for small and medium-sized enterprises operating across a wide range of sectors including FMCG, pharmaceutical, high-tech and e-commerce. All space at CTPark Belgrade City will be modern, energy-efficient and BREEAM certified, aiming to achieve a minimum of BREEAM Very Good, while offices, exhibition space and onsite amenities are also available for tenants.

Petar Kolognat, Director of Business Development at CTP Serbia, said: "We are pleased that Mercator has chosen CTPark Belgrade City as the location from which it will centralise its warehousing requirements. Despite its scale as the largest logistics hub in Serbia when complete, CTPark Belgrade City also provides occupiers with a unique city-centre location and excellent highway and airport access, in a newly developed setting that meets the highest ESG standards. At CTP we pride ourselves on strategic partnerships with our tenants, growing with them as their business expands, which is why we believe we will continue to attract other leading businesses like Mercator to our parks.”

Violeta Kovacevic, CEO of Mercator Serbia, commented: "Mercator's future growth will be underpinned by enhanced operating excellence and cost efficiency across our businesses. Our new space at CTPark Belgrade City will help us achieve this enabling us to consolidate our operations under one roof in our new distribution centre, and we know CTP is a partner that understands our current and future logistics real estate requirements. CTPark Belgrade City is also ideally located for our distribution centre being so close to central Belgrade.”

Since it started operating in Serbia, CTP has launched multiple projects and currently has 13 buildings across its portfolio with a total area of ​​over 285,000 sqm, as well as 250,000 sqm under construction.