New retail space to decrease by half in 2019

The retail market is strongly affected by the prevailing coronavirus epidemic. Optimistic forecasts at the beginning of the year related to development activity were quickly verified. It is true that the end of the first quarter of 2020 is over 400,000 sqm of commercial space under construction but by the end of the year only approx. 140,000 sqm of this space will be ready for use. This means that we will close the entire 2020 with a 50 percent decline compared to 2019, according to the latest CBRE report 'Market View: the retail market in Poland in the first quarter of 2020'.

"The development of shopping center space before the outbreak of the coronavirus was rather moderate but stable. From record-breaking 2015, when the increase in retail space approached as much as 600,000 sqm, we recorded declines every year, which, however, were not drastic and were associated mainly with high market saturation. The beginning of this year indicated that moderate dynamics would be maintained, but the restrictions associated with the introduction of the epidemic strongly verified the plans and postponed them. By the end of this year, only one-third of all investments will be completed, and we will end the whole year with a significant decline," Magdalena Frątczak, Head of the Commercial Sector at CBRE, declared.

(WBJ)