Nearly 800,000 sqm of retail space in the pipeline across Poland

The volume of retail space under construction in Poland stood at 794,000 sqm at the end of the second quarter 2014, with shopping centers representing 720,000 sqm of that space, a recent report by JLL said. Some 564,000 sqm of the space in the pipeline should be completed by the end of 2014, with shopping centers representing 455,000 sqm of the space. According to Anna Wysocka, head of retail agency at JLL, “37 percent of developing pipeline will contribute to the growth of stock in cities of less than 200,000 citizens. Nevertheless major agglomerations remain very active – 44 percent of future shopping center floorspace will open in these cities, with the remainder in cities of between 200,000 and 400,000 residents.” Throughout the first six months of the year, some 252,000 sqm of new retail space was delivered to the market (205,000 sqm within shopping centers), predominantly in smaller cities and towns, with population below 100,000. In Q2 alone, 88,000 sqm of new retail space came online, including 64,000 sqm in three new shopping centers and one extension. The biggest shopping center opened in H1 2014 was Atrium Felicity in Lublin, with 73,000 sqm of GLA. Poland’s total retail supply now stands at 12.1 million sqm of GLA, including: shopping centers (8.7 million sqm), retail parks (1.3 million sqm), retail warehouses (1.9 million sqm) and outlet centers (163,000 sqm).