Demand for renting and buying real estate should remain decent over the longer term in Romania and its neighbors, despite 2023 most likely being a bit more challenging than a regular year, according to experts of Colliers. 

Romanian developer Transilvania Construcții has purchased an industrial park in Arad from Comalim in a deal estimated at around €3.5 million. 

Auto Partner, one of the largest auto parts distributors in Poland, has leased 30,000 sqm of modern commercial space at MLP Zgorzelec. It will be the first tenant in a new logistics centre being built near the border with Germany and the Czech Republic. With the new transaction, the total space leased by this auto parts distributor and importer in MLP Group facilities has increased to nearly 60,000 sqm.

Commercial property investment in Romania totaled €1.25 billion in 2022, up 40% compared to the previous years, of which the biggest single deal was Pavăl Holding’s acquisition of CA Immo’s office portfolio for €600 million, according to real estate consultancy JLL România. Last year's result was the biggest since 2008.

Property developer Speedwell has secured financing from Alpha Bank Romania for SpacePlus, its first industrial development located in north-western Bucharest. 

Saint-Gobain Sekurit, a manufacturer of car glass and solutions for the automotive market, has leased 21,300 sqm in CTPark Iłowa located in the Lubuskie voivodeship in Poland. The company will move into the largest building of the complex (110,000 sqm), in which it will conduct production and warehouse operations.

In the past 12 months, there were 154 buildings in Romania that received green certifications under the BREEAM or LEED standards, accounting for one-third of all buildings that were certified in the past 14 years, according to data from green building consultancy ADP.

A pandemic, high inflation, rising prices for materials and contractors, and consequently, an increase in starting rental rates concerned the warehouse sector in 2022. Despite the difficulties, the logistics and industrial market is stable and has grown dynamically. The breaking point for the sector turned out to be Russia’s aggression against Ukraine at the end of Q1, 2022, which significantly changed the perception of the entire market in the first weeks of the war. Additionally, tenants and developers looked for ways to optimize energy costs throughout the year. Axi Immo presented a recap of 2022 and forecasts for 2023 for the warehouse market in Poland.

In 2022, the industrial market remained one of the fastest-growing real estate sectors in Poland despite supply chain disruptions that sent rents and construction costs rising. 2023 is shaping up to be a year of buzzwords such as nearshoring, reshoring and friendshoring, with the biggest challenges being cost optimization and looking for savings, says Jakub Kurek, Head of Industrial and Warehouse at Newmark Polska.

From the warehouse developers' perspective, 2023 will be marked by very well-thought-out purchases. With the costs of financing constantly rising, construction costs changing, and investors pressing for discounts on the existing warehouse market, the land market will be the first to feel this accumulated pressure, says Bartłomiej Krzyżak, Senior Director, Investment at Avison Young.