Czech online retail giant Alza has leased a 22,000 sqm warehouse at P3 Prague D8 park as increasing sales volumes put pressure on its existing logistics centres around Prague in the Holešovice District and at P3 Prague Horní Počernice park. Alza will move into the specially adapted facility – which will feature a mezzanine storage system that has the capacity to almost quadruple the total floorspace – in January (2018). Both of Alza's existing logistics centres are equipped with technology to ensure that the company can meet its delivery time promises – particularly useful during the hectic pre-Christmas season.

The total warehouse and industrial stock in Poland has surpassed the 13 million sqm mark. In the period from January to September 2017, new supply totalled more than 1.6 million sqm and occupier activity remained healthy. A new report by Cresa describes the current situation as a golden age for the Polish industrial market.

Panattoni Europe is building Panattoni Park Zielona Góra – a modern multi-tenant distribution centre, planned for 75,000 sqm. At present, nearly 50,000 sqm, in three buildings, are under development. The space has been leased by both manufacturing companies and logistics businesses, which will be able to move into the park in early 2018.

Representatives of the BMW Group, the Czech government and the Karlovy Vary region announced construction of a new proving ground. The roughly 500-hectare property will be developed in Sokolov in the Karlovy Vary region, close to the German border town of Waldsassen and about two-and-a-half hours’ drive from the BMW Group’s main development site, the Research and Development Centre (FIZ), in Munich. The new BMW Group proving ground, which will create several hundred jobs, is slated to go into operation early in the next decade. Total investment will be in the three-digit million-euro range.

Real estate developer Zacaria signed one of the largest rental contracts in 2017 for an industrial space in Sibiu, with the German company Kuka Systems, which will expand its activity in Romania. The new Kuka production space is a built-to-suit project, covering more than 10,000 sqm.

A huge increase in urban logistics property space is required across key centers in Europe in the next few years to meet the exponential growth of e-commerce and the resultant need for last mile delivery in cities, according to a new research report from Cushman & Wakefield.

Panattoni Europe is to build a factory for Ontex, a Belgian producer of personal hygiene products. The facility featuring in excess of 26,000 sqm will be located in Radomsko, within the Łódź Special Economic Zone (ŁSSE). Construction works are about to begin in early December and are scheduled to end in July 2018.

After the first three quarters of 2017 the warehouse market continues to be the fastest and most dynamically growing commercial property sector in Poland. According to the latest report by BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland, since the beginning of the year the total volume of modern warehouse space has increased by 13.6%. Q3 2017 was dominated by Szczecin with the completion and delivery of the country’s largest warehouse scheme: Panattoni BTS Amazon Szczecin, with the area in excess of 161,000 sqm.

JLL´s Czech Supply Chain Activity Index marks further strong growth in Q3 2017, supporting continued robust occupier demand. The Index rose by 1.1% in Q3 2017, significantly above its long-term trend. As such, it maintained the strong growth patterns seen over the past three quarters.

eMAG, Romania’s largest online retailer announced that it is investing €65 million (RON 300 million) in a 120,000 sqm warehouse which will be built in Giurgiu County, the largest of its kind in Southeastern Europe. The warehouse is due for completion in 2019, zf.ro reports.