Retailers active in grocery, healthcare, consumer and diversified products will lead a sharp rise in demand for logistics real estate in the next two to three years as industries across the board implement lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and adapt their supply chains to the “new normal”, Prologis predicts in a new research report.

Due to the recent growth of interest in online shopping driven by the coronavirus pandemic, a leading logistics operator in Poland has decided to expand its warehouse footprint by leasing 15,000 sqm of temporary space in Prologis Park Piotrków Trybunalski I. Savills assisted one of e-commerce leaders in Poland in the leasing process.

In the fourth instalment of a series of reports about COVID-19 and the implications for logistics real estate, Prologis Research looked at customer resilience amid high economic volatility and concluded that diversity of the company client base is a key factor in insulating the portfolio in turbulent market conditions.

In Central Europe, 5 buildings totalling 160,000 square meters are currently under construction by Prologis. The company published its first-quarter 2020 earnings results,

In the third instalment of a series of articles on COVID-19 and its implications for logistics real estate, Prologis identifies concrete learnings from its operations in China and its proprietary data globally.

While near-term conditions remain uncertain, a recession is becoming increasingly probable and Prologis has identified five areas that will shape market conditions. Current events have also led to the quick emergence of two new structural demand drivers, namely the need for more inventories as supply chains emphasize resilience over efficiency and the re-acceleration of e-commerce adoption.

In our interconnected world, significant disruptions underscore the need for resilient supply chains. The risks posed by COVID-19 to economic growth would likewise affect real estate in the near term; on both counts, the magnitude is yet unknown. Still, structural trends point to resiliency for logistics real estate through this period and beyond, shaping both the fundamental and investment landscape, according to a new report by Prologis Research.

Prologis has appointed Paweł Sapek as Regional Head Central Europe, a role in which he is responsible for maintaining strong team leadership, identifying new opportunities and steering the region towards new paths of development. Sapek is now responsible for overseeing the company's entire CE portfolio across Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, with a total area of 4.2 million square meters. In addition, he will run the Polish branch of Prologis and directly supervise operations in Hungary.

In 2019, five out of the ten European markets with the highest logistics rental growth were located in CEE. Last year, net effective rents rose more than 5% for Europe as a whole, the highest level ever recorded. This growth is driven by headline rent growth as, after several years of concession reductions, many markets across Europe are currently at very low levels of incentives such as free rent. Prologis published its Logistics Rent Index.

2019 saw the completion of 8 Prologis buildings in CEE with a total area of 189 000 square meters, whereas development starts totalled 200,000 square meters. Prologis shared it 2019 results and achievements for Central Europe.