Poland's RRT issues new retail data

A total of 94,100 m² of retail space has been delivered in Poland in the second half of 2006, according to the Retail Research Forum (RRT), a consortium of real estate agencies including CB Richard Ellis, Colliers International, C&W, DTZ, Jones Lang LaSalle and King Sturge.

In 2006, 211,900 m² of leasable retail space was completed in Poland, and this is to be followed in 2007 by another 390,000 m². Last year was comparable to 2005 in terms of supply, but there was a noticeable change in location and size of new investments. Shopping centre currently being delivered in the biggest cities are in very central areas and are 50,000-110,000 m² in size. The vacancy rate for the biggest cities remained stable at a low level of 1.4%.

Most modern retail space in Poland can be found in Warsaw (almost 30%), followed by Silesia, southern Poland (19.4%), and Lodz (11.2%). The western city of Poznan features the highest ratio of modern retail space per 1,000 inhabitants (561m2), followed by the capital city of Warsaw (557 m2) and Lodz (474 m2). RRF estimates that there will be a considerable increase in the concentration of retail space in Wroclaw and Poznan in the west of the country.