In 2019, 2.7 million sq m of modern industrial and logistics space was commissioned, which is the highest level in history. Supply at the end of the year stabilized at 18.4 million sq m. The largest project commissioned was Panattoni BTS Amazon Gliwice with a total size of 210,000. sqm. The total annual demand for such space has been around 4 million sq m for several years, which is why investors are constantly speculating, anticipating the needs of tenants. Currently, 1.9 million sq m is under construction, of which about half is for 'investments'.

"There is more and more storage space in our country. Demand is still ahead of supply. In 2020, the available area will reach 20 million sq m, which can be treated as a milestone in the warehouse market in Poland. The growing e-commerce market plays a very important role in the development of the industry. In 2019, the volume of transactions on the e-commerce warehouse market remained at a level similar to previous years and amounted to about 10% of total demand. Large logistics centers are created in strategic locations in various parts of the country, as well as courier distribution centers located close to large cities, which is crucial for the so-called last mile logistics" - Beata Hryniewska, Head of the Warehouse and Logistics Department at CBRE.

Pomerania increases warehouse and logistics resources

Mazovia leads the way on the map of Poland. This region boasts the country's largest supply of available storage space. In the entire Mazowieckie voivodship together with the Warsaw market it amounts to over 4 million sq m. Silesia and Łódź voivodships are followed by the supply of available warehouse space exceeding 3 million sq m.
Mazovia and Silesia are also leaders in terms of warehouse space under construction. 482,000 are created in the Mazowieckie voivodship sqm. area, and in the Śląskie Voivodeship 478 thousand. sqm. The Dolnośląskie (268,000 sq m under construction) and Pomorskie voivodship were also high on the list of regions for new warehouses, with almost 263,000 being created. sqm. such a surface. It is over a third of the existing resources in this region, which amount to approx. 650 thousand sqm. A little less (over 72,000 sq m) is currently under construction in the Łódź area.

Warehouses are heading for smaller cities

While most of the resources are still concentrated in the five largest regions (Warsaw, Katowice, Łódź, Poznań and Wrocław), developer activity is slowly spreading across the country and this is not just for BTS projects. Logistics parks are being built near cities such as Olsztyn, Kielce and Radom and we can expect an increase in interest in markets that were less popular until now. This will depend on the conditions prevailing on the local labor market, including mainly the availability of workforce necessary to fill vacancies in distribution centers.

Source: CBRE