According to “Occupier Insight – Industrial and Warehouse Market Q1 2021”, a report prepared by Cresa, gross industrial and warehouse take-up climbed to 1.6 million sqm in the first quarter of this year, representing an increase of 51% compared to the first three months of last year. This result accounts for 46% of the annual average for the last five years and marks a record quarter in terms of leasing activity.

VGP has launched construction of the fifth hall in its logistic park VGP Park Pilsen, located in an industrial part of the city’s Bručná quarter. The park is adjacent to the E49 and has access to the D5 motorway. On a land of about 10 hectares, VGP offers nearly 50,000 sqm of lettable area suitable for light manufacturing, logistics and accompanying commercial activities. Tenants of the new warehouse will be DHL Express, leasing 1,113 sqm, as well as Verhoek Europe with 2,170 sqm of logistics space.

The latest EBI Construction Activity Report has found that the stagnation of the total value of started construction works has not stopped. Between January and March 2021, construction works in the sector started on HUF 421 billion. This, although not greatly different from the values seen in the previous three quarters, is still the lowest Activity Start indicator of the last two years. Compared to the January-March periods of the previous two years, 2021 started clearly weaker: against the positive Q1 2020, the decline was about 35%, but even over the same period in 2019, there is a 15% decrease.

Logistics parks offering space that can be flexibly tailored to the needs of smaller tenants are increasingly high on the agenda of industrial developers, especially on the Warsaw market, according to Tomasz Bulej, Junior Negotiator at  Cushman & Wakefield.

Local residential developer JRD is entering the commercial segment. The company plans to build its first office project, Viadukt Anděl in Prague 5.

LCP has signed a purchase contract for a retail park in Rawa Mazowiecka, located between Warsaw and Łódź. It offers over 2,700 sqm of GLA and 45 parking spaces. The size of the entire plot is over 5,200 sqm. Among the tenants are Kik, Dealz, Martes Sport and CCC.

Romanian billionaire Daniel Dines, the founder of NYSE-listed automation software manufacturer UiPath, is reportedly looking to buy a minority stake in local real estate developer One United Properties before the company's planned IPO on the Bucharest Stock Exchange next month.

In its first financial results announcement since the IPO in March 2021, CTP recorded a 16.9% growth of net rental income in Q1 2021 vs Q1 2020, increasing its market share in its core CEE markets to 24% by the end of Q1 2021 and more than doubling leasing activity to 397,000 sqm GLA (compared to 184,000 sqm in Q1 2020).

Delivery firm Cargus has opened a new warehouse in Buzău, following an investment of €500,000, which will support its growing business volumes. 

Polish Logistics LLP, a new investment vehicle established by IO Asset Management, the specialist manager of industrial real estate, and REINO Capital, a real estate holding company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, with the backing of Grosvenor Group, one of the largest privately-owned international property companies, has completed its first investment – the Logistic City prime logistics park in Piotrków Trybunalski.