Banks are starting to provide development debt again for logistics projects in Poland and the Czech Republic, according to Robert Dobrzycki, head of Central and Eastern Europe of Panattoni Europe. ‘Development lending is starting to come back, especially for non speculative projects, with a pre-leased ratio of 50-60%,’he told PropertyEU at EXPO REAL.
Banks are starting to provide development debt again for logistics projects in Poland and the Czech Republic, according to Robert Dobrzycki, head of Central and Eastern Europe of Panattoni Europe. ‘Development lending is starting to come back, especially for non speculative projects, with a pre-leased ratio of 50-60%,’he told PropertyEU at EXPO REAL.
Dobrzycki mentioned major banks such as Unicredit, WestImmo and BerlinHyp as the most active in the sector. US-based Panattoni entered the European market in 2005 and has since built up a logistics portfolio worth over EUR 1 bn in CEE.
Dobrzycki: ‘We are seeking to expand in Slovakia at the moment, and we plan to enter Romania in the coming year.’ The company has a development pipeline of 250,000 m2 of logistics space in the region, mostly located in Poland. To fund the projects during the credit crisis, the company has relied on investment partners such as Standard Life Investments, AEW Europe and Pramerica or worked through forward funding commitments but more recently it was able to make use of bank loans again, he said. 'We anticipate a lack of logistics space in the coming years due to lower supply. This is then a good moment to build, also in view of lower construction costs.’
