ESR Kendall Square Sells Pyeongtaek Logistics Park to Samsung SRA for $253 Million

On September 1, 2026, ownership of a 190,000-square-meter mega-shed in the Poseung district of the Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone formally changed hands. ESR Kendall Square transferred the Pyeongtaek Logistics Park to a Samsung SRA Asset Management vehicle for KRW 343 billion ($252.6 million).[1][3]

The transaction closed at the equivalent of KRW 1.8 million per square meter of gross floor area. The four-story, all-ambient facility, located just three kilometers from Pyeongtaek Port, features direct ramp access to every floor, high ceilings, South Korea's largest single-floor warehouse footprint, and 10 megawatts of power capacity.[1][3]

The deal marks a transfer of prime infrastructure from foreign pension backing to domestic institutional control. ESR built the 2023-vintage facility using capital from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Dutch asset manager APG.[3]

Samsung SRA funded the acquisition through a KRW 400 billion core fund, which drew KRW 250 billion from South Korea's National Pension Service alongside capital from Samsung-affiliated insurers.[1][3]

"The transaction reflects the strong value created through ESR's proactive asset management approach and underscores the market appeal of the asset, supported by its underlying fundamentals and high-quality specifications," an ESR representative stated following the close.[1]

The asset's yield profile is anchored by its tenant. E-commerce platform SSG.com pre-leased the entire facility in late 2021, before ground was even broken, securing a critical node in a distribution hub that serves the capital region and nearby electronics and automotive clusters.[3]

Logistics inventory in Pyeongtaek expanded more than 1.7-fold between 2022 and mid-2025, absorbing demand from third-party logistics firms and end-users.[1][3]

Institutional buyers are increasingly targeting cash-flowing assets in South Korea as new warehouse construction drops sharply from post-pandemic peaks. While overseas capital accounted for more than 60 percent of industrial trades in 2025, Korean managers with long-term domestic mandates are now securing completed, fully leased assets as supply eases and ambient rents climb.[3]

In the Greater Seoul area, logistics net absorption rose 42 percent to 164,000 square meters in the second quarter of 2026, while nominal rents reached $7.65 per square meter per month, reinforcing the yield profile for domestic funds acquiring stabilized properties.[3]