P3 agrees 390,000m[sup]2[/sup] of leasing deals in H1 2012

Pan-European warehouse property specialist PointPark Properties leased 390,000 m² of space in the first half of this year, a surge of 70% compared to the same period in 2011.

Commenting on the development, CEO Ian Worboys said: 'The extremely strong demand we have seen for our properties in the first half of the year, whether for lease renegotiations or new deals, is a reflection of the lack of development supply in the pipeline. This is supporting the appetite for the limited number of high quality assets in top locations that form the majority of P3's portfolio, despite the extremely challenging background market and economic conditions.'

Worboys added that leasing deal volume had also been boosted by the trend of tenants switching from short-term (up to 12 months) to long-term contracts. Tenants are investing more in the renovation of their existing buildings, for example in cutting costs through sustainability improvements, in the face of limited alternative options to move.

A further factor was the convergence in lease termination dates coming roughly five years after the end of the European commercial real estate market boom in 2007.

P3 reported that the leasing performance in H1 2012 comprised 167,370 m² of new long-term leases (future leases and expansions); 24,873 m² of short-term leases and a further 197,529 m² of renewals.

France accounted for 130,374 m² of the overall leased space, followed by Germany (84,207 m2), Spain (50,690 m2) and Slovalia (46,183 m2).