Paweł Sapek, Senior Vice President, Regional Head CE & Country Manager of Prologis talked to Property Forum about the state of the warehouse market, the changing expectations and demands of tenants and new challenges for the nearest future. 

CBRE Global Investors in collaboration with general supplier Demaco have handed over the new premises in Nýřany to their client Faurecia represented by the industrial agency of Colliers International Czech Republic. Faurecia Seating Plzeň opened its plant in this location in 2013 and earlier this year, and the automotive supplier agreed on an expansion within the existing location. The new premises will be used for manufacturing automotive seating for BMW, Opel, Volkswagen and other brands. The site can also offer space for another expansion.

The scale and number of transactions in storage real estate in Central and Eastern Europe makes it one of the fastest-growing markets on the old continent. Investors generally are following the growing demand for warehouse space resulting, among other things, from the growing role of e-commerce. At the same time, the strategic location on many north-south and east-west international routes makes the CEE region of Europe a highly desirable destination for warehouse locations. It is one reason why this sector is the only real estate segment currently experiencing year-on-year growth.

The Tei Group, which includes the Farmacia Tei network of pharmacies and Bebe Tei stores, leased approximately 10,000 sqm in the Metav industrial park in northern Bucharest, to build a semi-automatic warehouse, a transaction intermediated by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

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).

Tyre manufacturer Nexen Tire Europe is expanding its activities near Žatec. Besides its plant in the Triangle Strategic Industrial Zone, the company will lease from CTP an additional large warehouse at the neighbouring ctPark Žatec, from March 2021. The 12,000 m2 Central Distribution Warehouse will be constructed for supplying the whole European market with tyres manufactured by Nexen for passenger and commercial vehicles.

CTP is building Lenovo's first European plant in Üllő, Pest County, in ctPark Budapest East industrial park. As part of the investment worth more than €18 million, CTP is building Lenovo's first high-tech European plant on nearly 35,000 sqm, the delivery of which is scheduled for spring 2021.

Panattoni and Phoenix Contact E-Mobility, operating in the area of charging technology for electromobility, celebrated the first construction phase of a new electric mobility plant at Rzeszów-Dworzysko Science and Technology Park. Just in two months, the entire hall structure was constructed and covered with a roof. Starting Q1 2021, Phoenix Contact E-Mobility will manufacture and test various AC and DC charging cables and will supply them, among others, to leading automotive producers. Polish Investment & Trade Agency (PAIH) helped with the efficient implementation of the investment. Colliers International advised the tenant for this transaction.

One of Panattoni’s existing customers, Globalway – a supplier of (among others) toys, furniture, sports accessories and interior furnishings produced in China – has decided to lease the whole of Panattoni Park Tricity East IV. This has been made possible thanks to the close cooperation of the developer with the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH), which is supporting the project by providing investment incentives for Globalway. The 52,000 sqm complex is to be built in the eastern part of Gdańsk, where the tenant will be ready to move in Q1 2021. The leasing deal was brokered by Querco Property.

Panattoni is to build a production plant of 40,000 sqm in Kalisz, Western Poland. The tenant is a leading German producer of industrial equipment. The BTS project is to be completed in the third quarter of 2021. As a result, the tenant will increase its production capacity in Poland and double its staffing levels by eventually employing around 650 people.