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.

CTP has recently announced new leases and development completions, in addition to ambitious plans for future expansion, in the Budapest region of Hungary and Northwest Bohemia and Moravia in the Czech Republic.

French logistics and transport services provider FM Logistic has opened a €20 million dedicated cold storage warehouse in Bucharest to meet demand from the growing pharma and healthcare industry in Romania.

One of the newest industrial parks in the portfolio of the developer and manager of industrial properties, P3 Logistic Parks, will launch an expansion this spring. Warehouse A will be enlarged from its present size of 30,000 sqm by an additional 60,000 sqm. The extra capacity will be available to prospective customers at the end of the year. It will be the largest building in P3’s portfolio in the Czech Republic.

CTP is the first real estate developer to reach a historical milestone: 1 million sqm of built area spread in 13 logistics and industrial parks throughout Bucharest and nine other cities, strategically located in Romania.

Poland’s warehouse market is set to maintain a strong momentum this year, driven by robust occupier interest with demand outstripping supply for many months and the economy powering ahead.

Logistics real estate rent growth remained considerable in 2018, with rents rising 6% globally. Consistent with the past several years, the U.S. outperformed, with 8% growth. However, other regions were just as notable. China was a clear leader with 8% growth. In Europe, rents rose 5%, a near doubling in growth from 2017 and the fastest annual growth in the region based on data reaching back more than 10 years, according to new research by Prologis.