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.

A JV of Investika – a Czech retail investment fund, and Bud Holdings – a Luxembourg-based private equity company, became the new owner of the entire Face2Face Business Campus in Katowice. Echo Investment signed a sale agreement for the complex comprising two office buildings. The agreed price is about €110 million.

Panattoni has sold its fully-leased Silesia East logistics park near Katowice in the south of Poland, to Palmira Polska Sp. z.o.o, the Polish subsidiary of Frankfurt-headquartered investor and asset manager Palmira Capital Partners. The 32,000 sqm Grade A complex is part of a major logistics hub around Katowice, the capital of the Silesia region, which borders the Czech Republic and Slovakia and lies at the heart of the industrial and manufacturing centre of Central and Eastern Europe. The parties agreed not to disclose the value of the transaction.

The development, located in the centre of Katowice, will offer nearly 48,000 sqm of office space, more than 1,000 sqm of green terraces, outdoor areas and social spaces. Construction of the building has already begun.

From December 22 this year, customers travelling on the Wielkopolska Motorway will be able to make quick purchases in two Żabka stores located in motorway service areas, the so-called MOPs - Gnilec (the last rest stop before the German border) and Sosna (the first rest stop point after entering Poland from Germany). The new format includes the 9000th and 9001st jubilee stores. The new format is tailored to the needs of travellers, who can benefit from an extended range of hot snacks, coffee, and sandwiches or salads. 

Union Investment has sold the Maraton office building in Poznań, to a subsidiary of UNIQA Real Estate, the real estate company of the Austrian insurance company UNIQA Insurance Group AG. The building has been held by open-ended real estate fund Unilmmo: Deutschland since 2017. The purchase price was not disclosed.

West4 Business Hub A, located in Wrocław is now certified WiredScore Platinum. Solida Capital, an investment and development company that entered the Polish Office market recently by acquiring West 4 Business Hub A from Echo Investment decided to upgrade this asset to the best digital and technological connectivity standard.

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.

Taking into account the mood and current investment activity, it would seem that the recession in global markets is only just developing. A clear slowdown in real estate transactions has been visible since mid-2022. Several factors contributed to it, including the increase in interest rates, uncertainty related to the geopolitical situation, the war in Ukraine, games between the USA, Taiwan and China, as well as the instability of government and economy in Great Britain and economic problems in China, claims Michał Ćwikliński, Principal, Managing Director – Poland at Avison Young. 

NEPI Rockcastle, through its subsidiary, has acquired all the issued shares in the Forum Gdańsk shopping centre from a company ultimately owned by Blackstone-managed funds. The transaction encompassed the repayment of all the asset’s outstanding debt. Forum Gdańsk is a 63,500 sqm GLA shopping centre, situated in Gdańsk, the sixth largest city in Poland by population, with over 470,000 inhabitants.