Polish warehouse developer MLP Group signed 48 contracts last year to lease a total of nearly 300,000 sqm of warehouse space, approximately 50% more than in the preceding year. The property portfolio managed by MLP Group has already exceeded 1 million sqm, with a further 2 million sqm under development.

AFI Europe, an international investment group, is to buy shares in the Towarowa 22 project in Warsaw. AFI Europe and Echo Investment will jointly develop the commercial part of this complex. Echo Investment will independently be the investor of the residential part and the developer of the entire project.

According to Savills, the e-commerce boom is continuing to drive demand for industrial and logistics assets across Europe, as new records were set for both levels of investment and leasing activity in 2021. In Poland, take-up in 2021 reached an all-time high and industrial assets accounted for over a half of the total investment volume.

Lincoln Property Company (LPC), an established investor, developer, and provider of management services, active in the US and European commercial real estate sector, has resumed its operations in Poland. Damian Grzywacz was appointed Managing Director of Lincoln Property Company in Poland following LPC’s acquisition of The Form in Warsaw last year, and has been tasked with identifying further investment projects in the region.

Panattoni is developing its fourth park in Bydgoszcz. The new complex will eventually comprise three buildings with a total area of more than 110,000 sqm. One is to be entirely occupied by Belma Accessories Systems, a Polish company owned by the Kurkus Holding capital group.

The warehouse and logistics space sector in Poland maintained its high growth rate in 2021. The results included, among others, record amounts of new space delivered to the market, a record number of square metres under construction, as well as a record demand. Summing up last year, experts from BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland highlight the influence of e-commerce on the situation of the whole sector, the increasing interest of logisticians, developers and investors in ecological issues. They also point out the bottlenecks such as rising construction costs, difficulties in materials supply, limited land availability and increasing shortage of qualified workers.

After delivering 400,000 sqm of warehouse space in 2021, 7R continues to pursue its expansion strategy with 800,000 sqm currently under construction throughout Poland. In Upper Silesia, the company is developing a number of projects including a production and warehouse facility at 7R City Park Katowice I, which will deliver over 49,600 sqm to the market. The project will be ready in Q4 2022.

More than half of the 1.24 million sqm of office space leased in 2021 was located in Warsaw. Renegotiations accounted for nearly 45% of the total transaction volume.  However, the main regional cities now account for three times more square metreage under construction than the capital city.

Opened in September 2021, the Norblin Factory is filling up with tenants. The project’s investor, the Capital Park Group, has signed lease contracts with another six concepts which will soon join the revitalised complex at Żelazna Street. The office space of the multifunctional building was already fully leased last year.

Development margins in Poland have been under pressure in recent years which is taking effect in a smaller number of projects under construction with planned occupancy dates in 2022 and 2023. Property Forum talked to Mariusz Frąckiewicz, Country Director at Avestus Real Estate Poland about the post-Covid office market in Poland, the impact of inflation and surging land prices.