During Q3 2020, gross take-up on the Czech industrial market reached 289,400 sqm which is a decrease of 21% year-on-year. Still, the vacancy rate decreased over the quarter. The Industrial Research Forum announced the industrial market figures for Q3 2020.

Hungarian lender OTP Bank has granted a RON 8.9 million lei (€1.8 million) loan to Romanian logistics operator Rara Invest. The company is using the funds for the expansion of its Sura Mica industrial park in Sibiu.

P3 has signed an agreement with Vítkovice, a.s. and VTK NCA a.s. to buy 40 hectares of land in the Vítkovice area in Ostrava. Formerly known as Aglomerace, the area will be used by P3 to build an industrial and commercial district that will include production and storage warehouses, stores, showrooms, offices, and various other facilities. The overall design of the complex is being prepared in cooperation with architect David Kotek from the Ostrava-based Projektstudio.

CTP has inaugurated a new logistics centre in ctPark Bucharest West for one of the largest retail companies in Romania. Started in December 2019 and finished in September 2020, the new warehouse for Profi Romania became operational only one month after the completion of construction. The warehouse has a total area of ​​56,500 sqm, which can be extended by another 10,000 sqm. CTP’s investment in the project was €29 million (RON 140 million).

Retailing is giving way to e-commerce. The pandemic has undoubtedly changed consumer habits, stimulated the development of the online purchasing sector and has underlined new needs in logistics and warehousing. This means that the supply chain will need to be reorganized along with an increase in storage space and moving product location closer to the consumer. As the first warehouse developer in Poland, 7R is rapidly responding to new market realities by offering its tenants facilities of up to 12 meters high. This solution will significantly reduce the costs of storing goods and allow for more efficient use of warehouse space.

CTP has expanded its Aš industrial park by acquiring building plots and a production facility. At CTPark Aš there are now two fully-leased halls, with a total area of almost 35,000 sqm. The completed park will offer clients a further 45,000 sqm of production space.

Accolade is investing €35 million in the construction of Panattoni Park Bydgoszcz III. With the help of the investor, Panattoni has already completed two modern parks with nearly 90,000 sqm of BREEAM certified sustainable warehouse space in the Bydgoszcz area.

HelloParks, Futureal Group’s recently established industrial and logistics property development and investment company, has acquired its first development plot in Fót, next to the junction of motorways M0 and M3. The 76 ha greenfield investment will house energy-efficient buildings that meet the BREEAM sustainability standard, with the first facility to be completed next year.

The gross lettable area of industrial locations operated by CTP has passed 6 million square meters. The growth has continued due to long term trends of increasing e-commerce and supply chain relocations, supported by the COVID-19 crisis.

Across Europe, markets have stabilized as the impact of COVID-19 on logistics real estate has begun to dissipate, with strong investor demand for the sector driving yield compression. The rent growth outlook has become more positive as markets have steadied and supply-side constraints have remained intact, driven by low levels of speculative development in most continental European countries. Land scarcity is also affecting rent growth.  Prologis published its third-quarter global earnings announcement along with its European and Central European performance update.