CTP Invest is commencing construction of a new industrial park in the Poruba district of Ostrava, named ctPark Ostrava Poruba. Groundworks began in the summer and the initial project phase should be completed within six months, with the first companies moving in at the beginning of next year. The developer plans to invest more than €57 million (CZK 1.5 billion) in the project. Four large halls with production facilities and warehousing will be built at the site, which will offer almost 90,000 sqm of lettable area. This is the fifth ctPark in the Moravian-Silesian Region, besides the ctParks at Ostrava Hrabová, Nošovice, Nový Jičín, and Karviná.

Panattoni has begun construction work on a new distribution building in Panattoni Park Poznań IX. Rhenus Logistics S.A. – part of the Rhenus Group – is to take up 18,000 sqm. The building will be ready for use from June next year.

Panattoni is extending Panattoni Park Gdańsk Airport to meet the needs of a new tenant. Leading logistics operator PEKAES is to take up 11,500 sqm with a further 4,000 sqm secured for its future expansion. From March 2021 the tenant will have both traditional warehouse and cross-docking space at its disposal.

The market of industrial spaces in the west of Romania, respectively in the counties of Timiș, Arad and Bihor, continues to attract the attention of investors, after doubling its volume in the last ten years, ranking second after Bucharest. CBRE recently advised pan-European developer VGP on the acquisition of a 39-ha land plot in Arad. 

Mountpark Logistics has started construction work on a 26,000 sqm inventory distribution centre at Mountpark Sered in Slovakia. The building, which has the potential to create over 300 jobs for local people, has been designed to achieve BREEAM ‘very good’ accreditation and is on schedule to complete in the first quarter of 2021.

Every year, the number of BREEAM and LEED-certified warehouse buildings in Poland increases. There are several reasons for the growth of sustainable development in the sector. On the one hand, educated tenants put pressure on developers. On the other hand, developers themselves increasingly adhere to the decisions of the Paris Agreement, which sets out a global action plan to prevent global warming. In the latest development schemes, companies strive to reduce the negative impact on the environment through more thoughtful development planning and by reducing the carbon footprint. Currently, certification is particularly popular in the office sector. But warehouse developers increasingly strive to meet the BREEAM or LEED construction standards too. Often long before the completion of the scheme, warehouse developers try to demonstrate that the project meets the requirements of sustainable construction and ecology by obtaining pre-certification. Indeed, the new green construction standards for new buildings are slowly becoming the norm within the warehouse sector.

Four CTP buildings in Hungary have received the BREEAM In-Use Excellent certification withCTPark Arrabona - GYR1 in Győr having the highest score among the BREEAM In-Use certified buildings in Hungary. As a result of the comprehensive certification process covering the entire portfolio of the company, all of CTP's properties in Hungary have received BREEAM In-Use certification and 4 buildings have earned an Excellent rating.

Romanian online retailer eMAG is investing €90 million in a new logistics centre near Bucharest. Construction works for the 130,000 sqm facility will begin this month and completion is scheduled for September next year. By July 2022, all automations and technologies at the centre should be operational.

The first half of the “pandemic year” was most difficult for retail players, considering the lockdown during the emergency state, but the recovery up until July has been better than most market participants were initially expecting, according to Colliers International’s market report for the first semester of 2020. In the industrial & logistics area, it has been business as usual during the pandemic, with some seeing big spikes in activity, but a significant pipeline of speculative developments and a competitive market are tilting the balance in favour or tenants.

The first half of 2020 was the strongest on record for the warehouse and industrial market in Poland, says Savills. Despite COVID-19 challenges, take-up set an all-time high halfway through the year. In addition, the leasing volume and the amount of new space coming onto the market were higher in Q2 than in the first three months of the year.