Poland’s total warehouse and industrial stock reached 19 million sqm at the end of March, with the largest markets encompassing Warsaw (4.4 million sqm), Upper Silesia (3.2 million sqm) and Central Poland (3.1 million sqm), according to Savills. More than 428,000 sqm came onto the market in the first quarter of this year, nearly half of which in the Wrocław region. At the end of March, there was 2.2 million sqm under construction across Poland. Warehouse stock is also growing in the Tricity region, where new supply hit an all-time high of close to 290,000 sqm. The number of urban logistics projects underway is also rising. “The coronavirus pandemic has intensified the trends that have been setting the tone for the warehouse market for a long time. The growth in online spending has bolstered demand for warehouse space coming from e-commerce,” said Kamil Szymański, head of the industrial agency at Savills. “There has also been a shift of focus towards more automation in logistics which is taking on a new meaning. It reduces the reliance on the labor market amid the limited labor availability and rising wages, and has the additional benefit of material handling equipment being immune to health hazards.”
