Warehouse market red-hot as never before: Savills

The Polish warehouse market continues to power ahead, reveals the latest report from real estate advisory firm Savills. The development pipeline is historically high and take-up activity is on track for another record year. Leased buildings are being targeted by investors from all over the world. After the first three quarters, the logistics sector accounts for close to half of the total investment volume in Poland.

“The economy is gradually recovering to its pre-pandemic levels, providing a solid basis for the further rapid growth of the warehouse market. Poland’s industrial output rose by more than 10 percent in August while in October retail sales were up by close to 7 percent y/y. An even stronger impetus is being added to logistics by e-commerce whose share of total retail sales has increased from around 5 percent in early 2020 to close to 9 percent,” Katarzyna Pyś-Fabiańczyk, Head of the Industrial Services Hub at Savills, said.

According to Savills data, Poland’s total warehouse and industrial stock topped 23 million sqm at the end of September, having grown by more than 2.26 million sqm in 2021 alone. The largest volumes of new warehouse and industrial space were delivered in Western Poland and Upper Silesia. The biggest completion was Amazon’s BTS facility in Świebodzin totaling over 200,000 sqm, the second-largest logistics center of the e-commerce giant in Poland.

“Latest industrial market data shows that development activity is at its highest on record. Investor appetite remains strong with forwarding purchases more and more popular and often the only way to build a sizeable portfolio of logistics assets due to a shortage of income-producing stock," John Palmer, Director, Head of Industrial Investment, Savills, summed up.

(WBJ)