Small cities remain attractive to retail developers

Two shopping centers and four retail parks, totaling 85,000 sqm of GLA, were delivered to the Polish market in Q2 2014. All of the new projects are located in cities with population below 100,000, according to a report by consultancy Knight Frank. The biggest scheme completed in Q2 2014 is Galeria Bursztynowa in Ostrołęka offering 27,000 sqm of GLA. As much as 63 percent of the 855,000 sqm of retail space currently under construction is located in medium-sized and small cities, while the remaining 37 percent will be delivered in the eight major markets (Warsaw, Silesia, Poznań, Kraków, Wrocław, the Tri-City, Łódź and Szczecin). “This proves that small retail markets remain attractive to investors,” said Elżbieta Czerpak, head of research at Knight Frank. In Q2, developers launched construction of 160,000 sqm of retail space. The biggest projects are Zielone Arkady in Bydgoszcz (48,000 sqm) and Galeria Galena in Jaworzno (32,500 sqm).