Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, warehouse take-up hit a record high of 1.6 million sqm, reveals an industrial market summary for Q1 2021 released by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. The strongest leasing activity was reported in Poznań, the Warsaw area, Upper Silesia and Central Poland.

Agricultural products maker Corteva has pre-leased around 23,000 sqm of industrial space in a built-to-suit warehouse located in northeastern Bucharest. 

Knauf Industries Polska, the world’s leading polystyrene processor, has renegotiated its lease agreement and increased its warehouse and office space in Panattoni Park Wrocław II to 18,000 sqm. The tenant was represented during the negotiation process by real estate advisory firm Cresa.

Crussis Electrobikes, a Czech manufacturer of e-bikes and tricycles has signed a long-term lease for 21,000 sqm in Prologis Park Prague-Úžice. The company will occupy space in building 4B of the park. Real estate agent Marek Sýkora facilitated this transaction.

Panattoni has leased 10,500 sqm to Well Pack in the City Logistics Łódź II warehouse park. The space will be used by the logistics operator for the machine washing and disinfection of reusable food containers for supermarket chains. The tenant will move into its new premises in July, from where it will carry out its main operations.

According to AXI Immo, the Polish industrial market remains in great form. The sector is still attractive in the eyes of investors, and the boom in the e-commerce industry continues to fuel occupier demand. Take-up in Q1 2021 was 59% higher than in the same period last year, at 1.6m sqm. In addition, new sources of financing and greater developer confidence resulted in an increase in the amount of space under construction, which at the end of March 2021 reached 2.3m sqm (+11% y/y). 

The first quarter of 2021 saw record low vacancies in the greater Prague region, affirming consistent high interest in industrial premises in premium locations. High demand is pushing lease prices upwards, with lease prices having grown by 25 % per sqm year-on-year within the Prague cadastral district, for example. The Czech industrial real estate market is being impeded by drawn-out approval processes and a lack of new options in areas with the greatest demand.

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.

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.