The COVID-19 pandemic has left hardly any business or industry untouched and retail real estate industry has also been affected. The last twelve months were marked by three lockdowns that helped change the shopping habits of Poles, lower developer activity, and increase the popularity of smaller retail formats, JLL analysts say.

For Germany-based real estate investor and developer Trei Real Estate, 2020 was a successful year thanks to the fact its portfolio mostly includes assets that were hardly affected by the pandemic. Pepijn Morshuis, CEO of Trei Real Estate talked to Property Forum about the experiences gained during 2020, changing financing conditions and the company’s plans for 2021.

The industrial market demonstrated resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic. E-commerce remained the key growth driver for the market throughout 2020. Experts of global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield have summarised 2020.

The European Logistics Investment (ELI) logistics platform in Poland will deliver an 18,300 sqm logistics centre in Skawina near Kraków. The Kraków V facility, which is ELI’s third investment in that region, will be developed together with its partner Panattoni. Close to 20% of the space has already been leased to RTV Euro AGD– a leading retailer of home appliances and consumer electronics.

Rhenus Logistics has extended a contract and expanded its warehouse space at Mapletree Park Szczecin. The company now occupies ca. 52,000 sqm from ca. 102,000 sqm available space. Colliers International advised the tenant in the lease extension process.

Globalworth has added another office block to its portfolio – Podium Park B in Kraków. The second stage of this project has just been completed.

The development of the Private Rental Sector (PRS) in Poland could have been faster, but it is constantly being slowed down by high demand in the residential market. Developers are not interested in selling the whole building to investment funds, because margins and profits are bigger with sales to individual buyers. However, their faith in high returns and great growth potential of Polish rental market is shared also by developers, which are constantly coping with a lack of good plots permitted for residential development in spatial plans. And buildings with services, like senior and student housing or apartments to rent as a service can be constructed almost everywhere.

Because of the pandemic, a significant number of Polish consumers are increasingly turning to smaller stores, which are located outside traditional shopping centres. Is this an opportunity for high street shop owners, answer the experts from JLL advisory agency

Healthy occupier demand combined with high development activity have in recent years resulted in an increased appetite for investment land for industrial and logistics properties in Poland. Plot prices have risen as a result in the most attractive locations. Suitable, well-located greenfield land has become scarce, which has turned developers’ attention to brownfield plots. The COVID-19 pandemic has not had a material impact on the demand-supply balance in the land market, according to AXI IMMO.

The group completed transactions worth €206.5 million, as well as attracting record-breaking leases, launching three multifunctional projects and starting with its project of an apartment lease platform, which will deliver over 2200 units to the market. The company currently has a commercial project portfolio of 500 000 square meters and intends to double this number within the next five years.