Due to the recent growth of interest in online shopping driven by the coronavirus pandemic, a leading logistics operator in Poland has decided to expand its warehouse footprint by leasing 15,000 sqm of temporary space in Prologis Park Piotrków Trybunalski I. Savills assisted one of e-commerce leaders in Poland in the leasing process.

Czech industrial developer Contera has obtained a syndicated loan from ČSOB and Komerční banka in the total amount of €155 million. Most of the funds will be committed to refinancing the developer’s portfolio of warehouses and production halls in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which are owned and operated by Contera together with US investment company TPG Capital. The remainder of the loan is allocated to the development of new projects.

Hillwood has started the development of a logistics park in Piekary Śląskie, near Bytom in Poland’s Upper Silesia region. Hillwood Piekary Śląskie, comprising more than 42,000 sqm, will be ready for use in Q4 2020. This is Hillwood’s third project in the Silesian province since the beginning of the year.

Gross demand in Q1 2020 was almost 950,000 sqm with new deals and expansions dominating the market. New space delivered in the first quarter of 2020 totalled 440,000 sqm. JLL summarised the situation on the Polish industrial market at the end of Q1 2020.

Panattoni has appointed Mathieu Giguere as Director for Key Accounts & New Business Development. He will be responsible for acquiring new business and markets in light of the dynamic growth in online trade.

The first quarter of 2020 ended on the industrial market with good results on both the demand and supply side. Poland’s total warehouse stock surpassed the 19 million sqm mark, reveals a report by Cushman & Wakefield.

Poland’s total industrial stock at the end of Q1 2020 amounted to over 18.95 million sqm (+15% y/y). The quarter’s solid results were driven by steady tenant demand as well as stable rental rates, which despite the growing COVID-19 pandemic maintained their height in most markets. On the investment side, only in Q1 2020, the volume of transactions was comparable with the whole of 2019.

The industrial sector is considered one of the most resilient to the negative economic consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak as it benefits from the growing popularity of online shopping, especially in recent weeks. Although there is not much difference between market data for Q1 2020 and Q1 2019, opportunities and risks for the logistics sector resulting from the current situation will not be known until later months, depending on how the pandemic unfolds, according to Savills.

Profi, one of the largest retail chains in Romania, expands its logistic activities by contracting two new projects in Timisoara (58,000 sqm) and Craiova (57,000 sqm), which will be developed and rented out by Belgian logistics developer WDP. JLL has advised Profi in both transactions, thus continuing the partnership started few years ago, which resulted in 250,000 sqm of logistics space contracted in Bucharest, Roman, Cluj, Craiova and Timisoara.

Electro-IT and home & deco online retailers take up approximately 370,000 sqm of storage space and this volume could increase by at least 50% in the next two years, due to the development of online commerce, reveals the Romania e-commerce research report launched by CBRE.