Panattoni Europe commenced the construction of a new distribution centre near Warsaw. Completion of the first part of the investment is anticipated in February 2019. The lease transaction was mediated by the advisory firm JLL.

In Q1 2018, Poland’s total warehouse and industrial stock amounted to more than 14.15 million sqm and another 1.90 million sqm was under construction, the largest quarterly development pipeline on record. Central Poland was the leading regional market, accounting for more than half of new supply and most of the leasing transaction volume.

Element Industrial, a property developer founded by businessman Ionut Dumitrescu, has recently entered the logistics market by announcing its first project, Eli Park 1 in the Chitila area, west of the Romanian capital. The project will require an investment of €25 million.

Panattoni Europe has sold another logistics facility, Panattoni Park Warsaw West V totalling 70,000 sqm. The buyer is a Dutch company controlled by one of the leading global real estate investment firms, for whom this is the first investment in the Polish warehouse market.

Richard Wilkinson is joining CTP as Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective 1 July 2018 and will be working closely with Robert Pitt, COO, and Remon Vos, CEO, to secure growth, increase market share and profitability.

Panattoni Europe is developing another warehouse facility for an e-commerce business. This time it is expondo Polska, which will take up 30,000 sqm at Panattoni Park Zielona Góra, currently under development. The tenant will be able to move into the complex already in the coming October.

JLL's industrial real estate portfolio has expanded with the warehouse development called DOCK, owned by Dock Ingatlan Kft., in the Csepel Free Port area of Budapest. Following the real estate development in the 3.5-hectare area, a total of 15,000 square meters will be available for rentable warehouse space. Additionally, as a further development potential, the owners also highlighted the area of 80,000 square meters located on the northern part of the Free Port.

CTP continues to grow its industrial and logistics portfolio in Romania, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The developer also secured €35 million refinancing for two of its Czech hotels. CTP posted an update on its operations in several countries.

LPP SA, the owner of brands including Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito and Sinsay, has leased 16,000 sqm at Panattoni Park Gdańsk III, which will be dedicated to e-commerce. The complex is currently under development, and the tenant will be moving in already in Q3 2018.

According to JLL, Prague is still the largest sub-market in the Czech Republic, but a great deal of attention is also being paid to the border areas. In Q1 2018, almost 25% of all new industrial supply in the first quarter was delivered in the Karlovy Vary region for example. These include Panattoni Park Cheb and CTPark Aš, which together brought more than 50,000 sqm of new warehouse space to potential tenants. In another part of Northwest Bohemia, the Ústí nad Labem region, many projects have also been completed. The region represented 20% of the total completed industrial space and the third most active region by new premises delivered.