Gary Anderson, COO of Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITweek: Virtual Investor Conference (held June 2-4).
Anderson said that pre-COVID-19, Prologis and the industrial sector in general were well-positioned, and could be even better positioned post-COVID-19, especially because it has invested in digital infrastructure.
“Ninety-five percent of our assets and our facilities, and our customers’ operations, have remained open throughout the entirety of the crisis...and I don’t think you can say that about many real estate asset classes,” Anderson said.
He also said that one way the REIT is providing value to its customers is through its recently launched Prologis Essentials, an online portal through which customers can buy products and services in an efficient way.
Anderson said Prologis also focused on over-communicating with customers at the beginning of the pandemic, including building a centralized resource center for them to access valuable COVID-19 information like best practices from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and government loan information. He said Prologis has been working closely with its communities too.
“To that end, we created a relief fund funded by the Prologis Foundation. We funded it with $5 million, and we’ve been deploying those monies into the communities where we work and live,” he said.
Anderson also said that the demand for the logistics asset class will increase due to a greater focus on resiliency, as well as a higher level of e-commerce adoption.
“Just in the U.S., [our research department is] predicting that we’re going to see about a 400 million square foot increase in incremental demand as a result of those two demand drivers,” he said.