Impressive first half of year for warehouse and industrial market

The warehouse and industrial space market in Poland continues to thrive. According to the latest “Occupier Insight H1 2020”, a report prepared by real estate advisory firm Cresa Poland, this sector has come out on top despite the turbulence and current changes caused by the pandemic outbreak. 

“In spite of the temporary economy lockdown, we continued to observe a very high level of activity amongst developers and tenants. Throughout the past six months, more than 1 million sqm of warehouse space was delivered in Poland and total stock amounted to 19.6 million sqm. During that time occupiers leased more than 2.4 million sqm. One of the leases signed was a record-breaking transaction,” Tom Listowski, Partner, Head of Industrial and Warehouse, Central and Eastern Europe, Cresa, said.

The highest level of demand, 550,000 sqm, was observed in the Masovian region, where transaction volume stood at 55 percent of the annual average in 2015-2019. The average single transaction was equal to 6,900 sqm. In H1 2020 tenants, predominantly from the retail sector, leased an additional 250,000 sqm in the short-term to store unsold in-store inventory as a result of shopping and retail center closures.

The signing of a lease for 200,400 sqm was a record-breaking transaction signed by a confidential tenant from the e-commerce sector in Panattoni’s park, located in Świebodzin (Lubuskie region). This high activity, which bumped up the average transaction size up by 800 sqm y/y, is the result of the dynamic development of the e-commerce and logistic sectors, which is due to boosting interest in online shopping among consumers.

At the end of the first half of 2020, 1.9 million sqm was under construction. Significant development activity is being focused in Silesia (435,000 sqm) and Mazovia (417,000 sqm), up by 24 percent on the previous year. It is worth distinguishing the Lubuskie region, where the amount of sqm under construction was five times more than in 2019.

From January to June, absorption totaled 1 million sqm, posting a 13 percent downturn in comparison to the same period in 2019. About 1.4 million sqm in existing buildings remained vacant. In buildings under construction, the share of vacant space was equal to 38 percent.

(WBJ)