Douglas van Oers, Partner, Head of the Netherlands, Bridge Industrial Interview with Vastgoedmarkt

January 2025

Douglas van Oers: ‘I like the American mentality’

After eight years leading the logistics team at Savills, Douglas van Oers became a partner of Bridge Industrial in November. He is in charge of the new Dutch office of this American company. “I like the American mentality: going full throttle and daring to take risks,” he says.

Bridge Industrial is a private real estate company founded in 2000 by Steve Poulos. In 2020, the first office outside the United States (US) opened in the United Kingdom (UK). In 2023, Van Oers received a call from Bridge Industrial with a proposal for a new challenge: whether he wanted to set up the Dutch office as a partner.

Background

Van Oers has made a name for himself at several leading real estate agencies. His career started with a year at Ooms Makelaars. He then worked for about six years in the logistics team at the then DTZ Zadelhoff, where he was able to better realize his passion for this sector. ‘I live in Rotterdam, that city is pretty much built around the port. It was obvious for me to specialize in industrial and logistics real estate, as I have always been very interested in that.’

Van Oers then started working as a commercial manager at David Hart Group (DHG). Here he was really introduced to the development of logistics real estate for the first time. “I found that very interesting,” he says. After 3.5 years at DHG, Van Oers received an interesting offer at Savills. He was allowed to build the logistics team from the ground up together with Niek Poppelaars. In 8 years, the team grew to six people and in 2022 it became the market leader in the field of logistics investments. “That is of course a very nice achievement,” says Van Oers.

Partner Bridge Industrial

In 2023, Bridge Industrial approached Van Oers because they were going to open a Dutch branch. ‘Charles Baigler, head of the European branch, is extremely involved in building the European teams. Since I started, I see that there is a lot of synergy between the teams. That really appeals to me,” he says. ‘It gives the feeling that you are part of a larger European team. As a result, you not only look at your own market, but at the broader European market and learn a lot from each other. American knowledge and experience are also provided as support. That American drive has always appealed to me. Going full throttle and having a more competitive attitude than the European standard suits me well.’

Last year, Bridge opened new offices in both Amsterdam and Paris. ‘The plan is to also open an office in Germany. We are increasingly expanding in Europe.’ He explains about Bridge’s strategy: ‘We focus logistics investments on high entry markets, i.e. markets where demand exceeds supply. In America, for example, these are Chicago, New York, Seattle, Miami, New Jersey and San Francisco. We also want to implement this strategy in Europe. The Netherlands is in principle a small country, but there is a lot of demand for logistics, especially because of the port of Rotterdam. France and Germany are strong logistics markets. I do not rule out that other European markets will also be served.’

Challenges

The challenges in the Dutch logistics real estate market (such as grid congestion, nitrogen problems and political resistance) do not deter Bridge, says Van Oers. ‘I like that at Bridge we approach this as a challenge for which we can find creative solutions. Since it is so complicated, you can expect a lack of supply in the long run, which makes the market interesting,” he says.

‘We believe that there are still many opportunities if you can explain to communities why logistics is important and what it can add to the environment. I think we can really make a difference with the inventiveness and creativity we have. That is also the American mentality that I love so much. Don’t run away from complex issues, but rather look for ways to tackle problems.’

Build up

Van Oers built a new team at Savills and is now responsible for building the Dutch branch for Bridge. ‘I actually like that, I get a lot of energy from setting up something new. It feels like setting up a new business, but with a lot of expertise and support from the US and UK. My learning curve is becoming very steep again, because it is something completely new. A real estate agency is different from a developer.’

Van Oers says that the focus of his new position is mainly on building a strong team and expanding the presence on the European continent. ‘With the teams that are being built in Europe, we want to copy, as it were, the success that Bridge previously achieved in the US and the UK. We are especially creative in finding solutions, which Bridge has learned through experiences over the past 24 years. We can use all the knowledge that Bridge has acquired in the US and the UK in Europe to become strong here too. We do not shy away from complex situations and are willing to take risks. I think that is where our strength lies, that we want to find solutions to the challenges. First of all, we look for reasons to do something, instead of avoiding obstacles.’