At the end of 2018, Poland’s industrial and warehouse stock reached 15.79 million sqm. Around 2.22 million sqm of modern warehouse and industrial space was delivered to the market last year, down by just 6% on 2017’s level. With 792,000 sqm constructed in the last 12 months, Central Poland reported a record-high development activity with large-scale completions for BSH, Media Expert and Smyk at Panattoni Central European Logistics Hub in Łódź (a total of 214,000 sqm), Hillwood BTS Zalando 1 in Głuchów (125,000 sqm) and Panattoni Park Stryków III (91,000 sqm). Other leading markets in terms of new supply were Upper Silesia (303,000 sqm), Wrocław (219,000) and Warsaw suburbs (205,000 sqm).

In 2018, Poland joined the group of 25 most developed economies in the world. In this context, last year’s data from the warehouse and industrial market are a confirmation that Poland fully deserved its upgrade, says Tom Listowski, Partner, Head of Industrial & Warehouse, CEE at Cresa, in the firm’s latest report

Prologis has begun construction of a build-to-suit project for CBA Slovakia on a 6-hectare site in Ziar nad Hronom in the Banska Bystrica Region of Slovakia.

Panattoni Europe increases the supply of warehouse space in Lubuskie. The developer has bought land for new investments and announces the expansion of Panattoni Park Zielona Góra up to in excess of 130,000 sqm, planned in six buildings. At present, close to 75,000 sqm are under construction and over 50,000 sqm more will get under way before the end of Q1 2019.

Panattoni Europe returns to Legnica with a new project. The developer has commenced works on the first modern distribution centre in the Legnica area, planned to total in excess of 100,000 sqm. The platform has already secured its first tenant, for whom 23,300 sqm is being delivered in a single building.

Panattoni Europe has engaged in cooperation with Sense Monitoring, the supplier of smart automation and control systems for flat roof surfaces. Their first joint project will be a facility for a leading logistics provider, currently under construction a short distance from Warsaw. The roof surface in excess of 40,000 sqm will be fitted with the Sense S-One system. It will assist facility management in terms of roof structure integrity and help reduce maintenance costs.

It’s no surprise that expansion of the European logistics real estate market continued in 2018, with another strong year for occupier demand, lowest vacancy rates and long anticipated rent growth began to materialize. At the start of 2019 concerns increased around capital market volatility and potential impact to global GDP due to US-China trade tensions and Brexit. Even though the logistics real estate market ended 2018 on a strong note, some increased concerns at the start of the year raise the inevitable question: what can we expect in 2019? Prologis looked at the top trends influencing the market this year.

WDP will be constructing a new 60,000 sqm warehouse for Pirelli in Slatina, Romania as part of an expansion of the tyre manufacturer’s existing production facility. WDP projects an investment of some €40 million for this development.

MLP Group will build a new logistics park in the vicinity of Lublin. This will be the second centre to be built in this part of Poland by this leading industrial property developer. The facilities slated to be built in this new venue will deliver a total of approximately 51,500 sqm of modern industrial space.

The annual volume of leased floorspace in 2018 was 3.7 million sqm on Poland’s industrial market. The market grew by a further 2 million sqm while nearly 2 million sqm of space is under construction. Last year also saw record-breaking total for industrial investment transactions - worth €1.84 billion, according to JLL’s market summary.