250,000 m[sup]2[/sup] of industrial space under development in Poland: Colliers

Some 251,000 m² of modern warehouse space is under construction in Poland at present, with most of the projects located in regional centres, property adviser Colliers International has said in a sector summary covering the first half of 2012.

Most of space is built in Upper Silesia and in Poznañ, whereas Colliers International has noted a lack of new investments is observed in the Warsaw zone I and III, in Toruñ and Szczecin.

At the end of the first half of the year the total supply of warehouse space in Poland exceeded 7.12 mln m². about 290,000 m² of modern warehouse space was delivered to the market from January to end-June.

Colliers International said that demand for warehouse space showed an upward trend since the start of 2012 and by end-June the volume of rented space came to more than 723,000 m². New contracts and renegotiations accounted for the largest market share, constituting respectively 52% and 34.8%. Upper Silesia, Central Poland and Poznañ were particularly popular among the tenants.

In comparison to the first half of 2011 the vacancy rate has slightly decreased and at the end of June 2012 stood at a level of 11.5%. The lowest vacancy rate was recorded in Toruñ, where there is no space for lease currently available, as well as in Poznañ and Upper Silesia - in both regions the vacancy rate reached a level below 5%. The vacancy rate in Poland compared to the same period in 2011 decreased by 1.4% and at the end of Q2 2012 amounted to 11.5%.

Warehouse rental levels have been stabilized in most sub-markets since 2011 and the trend continued in 2012. However, small increases in market rents were recorded in Gdañsk, Wroc³aw, Poznañ and Upper Silesia.

'Rising demand for modern warehouse space results in the decrease of vacant space level in certain markets which may increase rental rates. Almost all projects under construction are already leased. However, developers still have the significant amount of land prepared for warehouse projects which will be able to satisfy the demand of prospective Tenants,' said Maciej Chmielewski, partner at the industrial and logistics agency, Colliers International.