The industrial market demonstrated resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic. E-commerce remained the key growth driver for the market throughout 2020. Experts of global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield have summarised 2020.

Macromex, the leader in the temperature-controlled products segment, is building its second warehouse in Chitila, near Bucharest. The investment amounts to €15 million and will be financed from own sources, but also from a loan from Alpha Bank Romania, the company announced. 

The European Logistics Investment (ELI) logistics platform in Poland will deliver an 18,300 sqm logistics centre in Skawina near Kraków. The Kraków V facility, which is ELI’s third investment in that region, will be developed together with its partner Panattoni. Close to 20% of the space has already been leased to RTV Euro AGD– a leading retailer of home appliances and consumer electronics.

Rhenus Logistics has extended a contract and expanded its warehouse space at Mapletree Park Szczecin. The company now occupies ca. 52,000 sqm from ca. 102,000 sqm available space. Colliers International advised the tenant in the lease extension process.

Healthy occupier demand combined with high development activity have in recent years resulted in an increased appetite for investment land for industrial and logistics properties in Poland. Plot prices have risen as a result in the most attractive locations. Suitable, well-located greenfield land has become scarce, which has turned developers’ attention to brownfield plots. The COVID-19 pandemic has not had a material impact on the demand-supply balance in the land market, according to AXI IMMO.

The Industrial Agency of Colliers International Czech Republic completed the signature of a 15,688 sqm lease agreement for a German multinational engineering and technology company for industrial premises at CTPark Bor.

Over the year, the developer signed lease agreements with such clients as Media Expert, 4f, InPost, Allegro and Phoenix Contact for over 2.1 million sqm of space – 800,000 sqm more than the previous year. This volume was achieved in spite of the outbreak of the epidemic in March and was mainly due to the e-commerce boom. The strong performance of the warehouse and industrial market was also the result of other new trends – such as the shift of production from Asia closer to the end consumer and retail networks securing the continuity of their supply chains.

Over 650,000 sqm of logistics and industrial space were rented last year in Romania, almost 40% more than in 2019, a Dunwell analysis shows.

In response to growing demand for logistics space on the domestic market, ConvergenCE has prepared a ready-made product in Tárnok, Hungary where the construction of an 8,000 sqm logistics hall can be started immediately.

Panattoni is completing the first stage of construction work on a distribution warehouse for OTCF S.A. The BTS centre in Czeladź is to eventually have an area of 67,000 sqm. The first stage of the construction work is to be completed in February 2021.