Business confidence among Polish construction companies tumbled early this year, with the heaviest burden, as perceived by the enterprises, coming from labour costs and tax levies. Decline in confidence is chiefly due to such factors as an over 15% increase in the minimum wage and a 10% hike in social insurance contributions faced by sole traders operating in the construction industry. On top of that, large construction businesses are required to conduct Employee Capital Schemes (PPK) or the alternative solution of Employee Pensions Schemes (PPE).

Last year saw excellent results in the office sector in Poland. Demand was a record breaking 1.6 million sqm. Total stock exceeded 11 million sqm with regional markets accounting for 5.6 million sqm and outperforming Warsaw for the first time. JLL summarised the situation on the Polish office market at the end of 2019.

Occupier demand for office space in Warsaw remained robust, with 878,000 sqm transacted in 2019, up by 2% on the peak year 2018. Cushman & Wakefield presented a summary of 2019 on the Warsaw office market.

Adventum International, a Malta based boutique investment fund manager, has acquired the 17,500 sqm office building Katowice Business Point in the administrative capital of the Silesia voivodeship. 

Tritax Eurobox plc, which invests in Continental European logistics real estate assets, has acquired two recently developed prime logistics properties and development land, positioned in the core logistics location of Strykow, near Łódź in central Poland for €51.8 million (phase I) with the potential to invest a further €15.0 million developing the adjacent phase II land. The corporate acquisition reflects a net initial yield of 6.1% (net of acquisition costs to the company) and has the potential to add value through the letting of vacant units and development of the land.

Panattoni has launched the construction of 25,000 sqm at Panattoni Park Legnica, out of 90,000 sqm planned. The first facility will accommodate the Polish production site of global e-commerce company Spreadshirt Group. Already in August 2020, the company will be taking up in excess of 11,000 sqm of production and warehouse space at the upcoming facility. The lease was mediated by JLL.

CPI Property Group continued to purchase Globalworth shares throughout the week. Following the recently executed transactions and an acquisition announced last week, CPI Property Group now holds 29.4% of the company’s voting rights.  

7R has finalized the sale of the 7R City Flex Łódź I warehouse located in Łódź, Poland to SELP (Segro European Logistics Partnership). This is the third 7R project, following 7R City Flex Łódź II and 7R Park Wrocław, to join the Polish portfolio managed by Segro.

Last year brought yet another record on the Polish investment market. Throughout 2019, the total transaction volume amounted to €7.8 billion which is higher 2018’s figure of €7.2 billion). Thus, Poland has once again proved that it is an attractive and increasingly more liquid market, according to Avison Young’s latest investment market report.

At the end of 2019, Poland’s total industrial stock topped 18.6 million sqm, with warehouse supply hitting a record high of 2.72 million sqm in the past 12 months. Compared to the previous year, warehouse space availability improved significantly on most of the nation’s regional markets. Cushman & Wakefield presents a summary of the Polish industrial market.