Chancerygate appoints Nikolay Velev to lead European expansion

Urban logistics property developer Chancerygate has appointed Nikolay Velevto spearhead its expansion into continental Europe. 

Nikolay Velev

Formerly head of Europe at Civitas Investment Management, Velev brings two decades of experience, including roles at Tristan Capital Partners and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing.
Currently, Chancerygate has over 60,000 m2 of urban logistics space under construction or ready for development across four European sites: two in Spain, one in Ireland, and one in Portugal, with a combined value of around £105 mln (€120 mln). 
The company has already established offices in Dublin, Madrid, and Lisbon, and plans to open another European office soon.
Commenting on his appointment, Nikolay Velev, said: “Multi-let urban logistics and light industrial property is still a nascent asset class on the continent. This presents Chancerygate with a distinct opportunity to deliver a fully integrated pan-European platform through the provision of sustainable, high specification accommodation in strategic locations. There is an attractive supply-demand imbalance for this type of space throughout most of the high-growth urban areas in Europe which presents an opportunity to deliver brand new purpose-built stock. In addition, existing properties can be refurbished into modern accommodation with specifications and ESG credentials required by tenants and landlords.”
Chancerygate managing director, Richard Bains, commented: “We are very pleased and excited to welcome Nikolay to Chancerygate. His pan-European experience and knowledge of key real estate markets that we are operating in, or want to enter, gives us a distinct competitive advantage. Our growth plans for Europe are ambitious and we have funds allocated to invest in both development and investment MLI opportunities across the core European jurisdictions. On that note, we anticipate being able to announce the opening of an office in a fourth European country in the near future.”
Chancerygate currently has approximately 195,000 m2 of urban logistics space under construction or ready for development across 13 sites, spanning from Manchester to Croydon. Additionally, the company manages over £650 mln (€740 mln) in UK investment assets, which include more than 600 commercial units totalling around 350,000 m2.