Retailing is giving way to e-commerce. The pandemic has undoubtedly changed consumer habits, stimulated the development of the online purchasing sector and has underlined new needs in logistics and warehousing. This means that the supply chain will need to be reorganized along with an increase in storage space and moving product location closer to the consumer. As the first warehouse developer in Poland, 7R is rapidly responding to new market realities by offering its tenants facilities of up to 12 meters high. This solution will significantly reduce the costs of storing goods and allow for more efficient use of warehouse space.

CTP announced its expansion plans for the Transylvania area. The developer plans to double the leasable area of ​​logistics spaces in the Transylvania region until 2023 by investments of €50 million in the expansion of its two logistics parks around Timișoara. Some of the spaces included in the construction plan are already leased to companies from the logistics and manufacturing sectors.

Panattoni is to expand its warehousing assets near Warsaw. Already the developer has 176,000 sqm of industrial space at its disposal in the village of Janki and it has just announced the creation of more. The company has purchased a further 3.14 ha next to the S8 for further development.

Market Építő Zrt. has completed the construction of a new parcel distribution centre in Budapest for DPD Hungária Kft. The facility has doubled the logistics company’s domestic sorting capacity.

According to Savills’ latest research, Europe will see an additional 11.6 million sqm of warehouse demand due to the manufacturing sector by the end of 2022, based on Capital Economics forecasts data.

DL Invest Group has concluded a cooperation agreement with DHL Supply Chain Polska concerning the joint development of the logistics centre DL Invest Park Psary. Right next to the DK-86 route in Psary in Silesia, modern warehouse buildings with a total area of over 200,000 sqm will be constructed.

Every year, the number of BREEAM and LEED-certified warehouse buildings in Poland increases. There are several reasons for the growth of sustainable development in the sector. On the one hand, educated tenants put pressure on developers. On the other hand, developers themselves increasingly adhere to the decisions of the Paris Agreement, which sets out a global action plan to prevent global warming. In the latest development schemes, companies strive to reduce the negative impact on the environment through more thoughtful development planning and by reducing the carbon footprint. Currently, certification is particularly popular in the office sector. But warehouse developers increasingly strive to meet the BREEAM or LEED construction standards too. Often long before the completion of the scheme, warehouse developers try to demonstrate that the project meets the requirements of sustainable construction and ecology by obtaining pre-certification. Indeed, the new green construction standards for new buildings are slowly becoming the norm within the warehouse sector.

The first half of 2020 was the strongest on record for the warehouse and industrial market in Poland, says Savills. Despite COVID-19 challenges, take-up set an all-time high halfway through the year. In addition, the leasing volume and the amount of new space coming onto the market were higher in Q2 than in the first three months of the year.

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.

XLMX obchodní s.r.o. has leased 16,000 sqm of warehouse space in ctPark Prague East in Nupaky with a view to setting up a regional warehouse for XXXLutz.