Available warehouse space exceeds 20 mln sqm in Poland

The pandemic continues to drive the development of the warehouse market. From January this year, as much as 3.67 million sqm space was leased, i.e. 27 percent more than in the same period last year and 19 percent more than in the same period in the record-breaking 2018, according to the latest CBRE report. Only in the third quarter of this year, tenants signed contracts for 1.27 million sqm of storage space. In this period, 673,000 sqm of warehouses were added and thanks to this, the warehouse space in our country is already 20.2 million sqm. CBRE experts indicate that despite heavy market traffic and records, the amount of space under construction is starting to decline.

“This is another quarter this year with record interest in magazines. The uncertain economic situation caused by the pandemic and the growing demand for online shopping prompts companies to secure additional storage space. Such space supports business liquidity regardless of external conditions. The importance of automation is also growing, thanks to which, among others in times of intense e-commerce development, commercial companies are able to keep deliveries and returns on time, thus reducing costs. However, we see that the market may soon begin to saturate slowly. There is a bit less construction and the enthusiasm of developers may soon start to decline,” Beata Hryniewska, head of the Warehouse and Logistics Department at CBRE, said.

As much as 1.57 million sqm of warehouses is still under construction in our country. As noted by the expert, however, we observe that the amount of space built this year is decreasing from quarter to quarter. Compared to the previous three months, it decreased by 18 percent, and in relation to the beginning of the year by 28 percent.

“This is primarily the result of developers being less willing to do speculative construction, i.e. without previous lease agreements. Currently, speculative construction accounts for about 30 percent of all,” Beata Hryniewska stated.

(WBJ)