Industrial real estate specialist Goodman Group has signed lease agreements for almost 1 million m2 of logistics space in continental Europe in the first half of its 2016 financial year.

Industrial real estate specialist Goodman Group has signed lease agreements for almost 1 million m2 of logistics space in continental Europe in the first half of its 2016 financial year.

The Sydney-listed company, which has over 720,000 m2 currently under construction, said it expanded strongly particularly in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), where its portfolio rose by 35% year-on-year to 944,000 m2 of space.

The largest contribution to Goodman’s development in the region came from Poland, with the group’s portfolio there growing to 702,000 m2. Goodman manages a further 242,000 m2 in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

'Goodman’s development in the past half year in the CEE region reflects the trend of rising demand for best-in-class logistics facilities in prime locations,' said Blazej Ciesielczak, Goodman's regional director for Central and Eastern Europe.

In the past half year, Goodman completed the construction of 94,000 m2 of warehouse space in the CEE region, of which 79,000 m2 were in Poland. In the coming months, Goodman plans to continue to grow its assets under management in Poland, by over 50,000 m2, including a 17,700 m2 expansion of a logistics centre for ILS, a member of the Inter Cars Group.