Polski
The current increase in speculative warehouse development in Poland, as logistics, e-commerce and light production continues to boom in the country, is a reason for developers to build more – concluded the experts on the Warehouse Games panel, which took place during Eurobuild CEE’s 6th Invested Interest – Investment Market Conference.
According to the speakers, last year was record-breaking in many respects. “2019 was a very dynamic year and a good one for the entire warehouse sector,” commented Segro’s investment director Bożena Krawczyk.
According to Tomasz Pietrzak, the senior leasing manager at MLP, other markets outside Poland are also becoming increasingly promising. “We will be opening new parks near Vienna. We are also doing better in Romania,” he revealed.
In the opinion of Jarosław Wnuk, the head of Bluehouse Capital, the time has now come for Poland to start comparing itself to such developed markets as Germany and the UK, rather than the rest of the CEE region. He feels that one of the reasons for the growing interest of foreign investors in the Polish warehousing market, including those from Asia, is the fact that it is now recognised as a developed country. “The Polish warehouse sector has finally reached a mature position among the three main sectors of the Polish real estate market. The factors that have contributed to its development include of the improved infrastructure and the recent dynamic expansion of the e-commerce sector. The demand in this sector is driven by online shopping,” he argued.
For Artur Mokrzycki, the head of capital at Panattoni Europe, the big question is what direction the warehouse market will take in the future. “Logistics technology has been changing, it is still unclear how the new trends will push this market forward,” he remarked. In his opinion, Poland still has advantages in a Europe without borders; however, many investors are still unaware of the potential of the Polish market in terms of light industry. Meanwhile, major changes await us, such as growing impact of global risks including climate change.
Finally, all the participants agreed that logistics and e-commerce will take the leading role in the development of the warehouse sector and that the increase in speculative space is an additional argument for developers to keep building speculatively. However, the challenge for the warehouse sector will include the higher construction costs and the shortage of qualified staff.
author: Agnieszka Zielińska, Eurobuild CEE
