The warehouse market in Poland breaks records in demand and supply

Demand for warehouses at 3.15 million sqm and new supply reaching 1.14 million sqm are the best results for the first half of the year in the history of the warehouse market. Poland is recording the second-largest developer activity in Europe – over 3 million sqm is under construction.

"The Polish warehouse market maintains a high growth rate, breaking new records in demand. In H1 2021, companies leased 3.15 million sqm or over 40 percent more than in the corresponding period of 2020. Net demand including new contracts and expansions reached 2.3 million sqm, which put Poland in fourth place in Europe – after Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands. Interestingly, the average increase in new demand in the country was as high as 77 percent compared to the 5-year average for the first half of the year. In Europe, this increase reached 44 percent," Tomasz Mika, Director of the Warehouse Leasing Department in Poland, JLL, said.

The Big Five markets, i.e. Poznań, Upper Silesia, Wrocław, Warsaw, and Central Poland, accounted for 77 percent of newly leased space in the first six months of 2021. A spectacular record of interest in warehouses was recorded in Poznań, where over 500,000 sqm was leased only under new contracts, and gross demand reached 626,000 sqm. Mature regional markets beyond the Big Five – Tri-City, Szczecin, Lubuskie, Kraków, and Kujawy – also stood out as active, and to a lesser extent emerging locations – the best result was recorded in the vicinity of Rzeszów (37,000 sqm).

The dynamic development of the e-commerce sector translates into interest in warehouse space. Logistics operators and couriers (38 percent) and retail chains (33 percent) were responsible for over 70 percent of net demand in the first half of the year. These sectors accounted for 14 of the largest new leases this year for an impressive 840,000 sqm.

(WBJ)