In 2018, the Polish industrial market was driven by e-commerce which, in addition to generating strong take-up levels, reported new requirements regarding warehouse location and technical specifications, says Tom Listowski, Partner, Head of Industrial and Warehouse, CEE at Cresa.

Carrefour has once again opted for WDP as its real estate partner for two new WDP sites in Romania (namely in Deva and in Brazi), totalling a surface of around 80,000 sqm. Both development projects represent an investment volume of around €40 million.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €150 million to Warehouses De Pauw (WDP) to finance the construction of 43 warehouses, all located in Romania’s convergence regions. The new logistics facilities will be rented long-term, with a focus on establishing new logistics or light industrial operations. This will promote employment generation and the EU's supply chain security, resulting in particular from the rapidly growing e-commerce business platforms.

Belgian developer WDP has signed a €45 million deal for the development and lease of 77,000 sqm of logistics warehouse space for the Romanian arm of French retailer Auchan.

Panattoni Europe opened Panattoni Park Białystok, featuring in excess of 41,000 sqm of Class A logistics and industrial space. The park is a multi-tenant facility suitable for a range of industries – from logistics to production. The complex is currently 60% leased.

Prologis announced that demand for space at its new Prologis Park Brno has prompted the construction of a second speculative facility at the Czech site.

Prologis has committed to a science-based target (SBT) to address the urgent action needed to curb climate change. Led by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), SBTs are an internationally recognized approach for helping companies create science-based goals for reducing GHG emissions.

CTP announced reaching the 5 million sqm lettable milestone this month. The company has developed a portfolio of strategically located business parks over the past 20 years located throughout Central Europe with 95% occupancy, creating approximately €280 million of rental income for 2018, with over 415 tenants employing over 60,000 people in a variety of industries, manufacturing, R&D, logistics, distribution and e-commerce across 8 countries.

In the third quarter of 2018, the Polish warehouse market was bolstered by 683,400 sqm of new supply. At the end of September, storage space in Poland exceeded 15 million sqm, which means that in the last 5 years the total surface volume has doubled. Almost 2 million sqm remains under construction, of which more than 25% in Central Poland.

Prologis has started development of a new 16,700 square meter facility at its fully occupied Prologis Park Wrocław V. The company has already signed the first pre-lease agreement for 6,000 square meters in the new building with a logistics operator in the aviation industry.