The Polish warehouse market maintained its robust momentum in the first half of 2020, with a record 2.38 million sqm leased. Gross take-up in the second quarter of 2020 – during a time of strict COVID-19 lockdown measures - was as much as 50% higher compared to the same period in 2019, at 1.36 million sqm. Such good outcomes were the result of high demand for space on the back of booming e-commerce trade and numerous BTS transactions which commenced earlier in the year, according to Axi Immo.

Ever since shopping centres in Poland were reopened in May, the share of online sales in total retail sales has been falling steadily - it stood at 7.7% in June compared with 9.1% a month earlier and 5-6% before the pandemic. Cushman & Wakefield has summarised Q2 2020 on the Polish retail market.

Atrium European Real Estate has completed the sale of five retail assets in Poland to Metropol Group. The value of the transaction remains confidential. The seller was represented by the Avison Young and JLL investment teams throughout the transaction.

According to a new report published by Cresa Poland, the Tricity office market is likely to become a tenant’s market soon due to the changing market environment. Tricity is still attractive for the BPO/SSC/GBS sector. Additionally, investments in its seaport and transport infrastructure are a magnet for sea freight operators.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the sentiment on the Polish office market appears to be optimistic. Total office stock currently amounts to just over 11.3 million sqm, with Warsaw the undisputed leader, followed by Kraków. During the first six months of the year, tenant activity reached approx. 667,800 sqm, with new contracts accounting for more than half of take-up. Despite limited new supply (275,700 sqm in H1 2020), the vacancy rate increased to 7.9% (+40 bps Q/Q) in Warsaw and 10.2% (+70 bps Q/Q) in regional markets as at the end of Q2. Axi Immo summed up the first half of 2020 on the Polish office market.

A company from Chariot platform, managed by Griffin Real Estate, a private equity investor operating in the real estate sector, signed an agreement with Auchan Poland to extend the lease of its six retail properties totalling 83,000 sqm. The lease agreement was signed for a period of over 12 years. The transaction is certainly one of the largest retail leases that has been closed in Poland.

The hotel investment market in Poland is still relatively immature. In an average year, the city of Berlin alone receives twice the number of hotel transactions than Poland as a whole. However, Poland has developed a strong track record in other commercial real estate sectors and, as a result, has an even stronger brand for investing. This has laid down the foundations for global capital to enter the hotel sector, and, indeed, there has been an uptick in the number of international hotel investors actively pursuing opportunities in Poland.

Panattoni has signed its latest lease with Terg, the owner of the Media Expert consumer electronics chain. The tenant is to occupy more than 12,000 sqm at Panattoni Business Center Łódź III in the city’s Widzew district, which it will be taking up in September 2020. Colliers International advised the tenant for this transaction.

At the end of Q2 2020, total modern office stock in the eight regional Polish cities amounted to 5.6 million sqm. The largest regional office markets are Kraków (1,483,300 sqm), Wrocław (1,186,100 sqm) and the Tri-City (868,400 sqm).

According to the latest report prepared by Cresa Poland, leasing activity reached nearly 52,600 sqm on the Kraków office market in the second quarter of 2020. Renegotiations accounted for 76% of the leasing volume, while new leases and expansions made up 15% and 9% of all deals, respectively.