The Upper Silesia region, together with Warsaw, continues to be the strongest industrial and logistics location in Poland, according to a market view prepared by CBRE. High amount of new space was under construction, tenants activity was comparable to the take-up registered in 2013.
At the end of 2014, the total stock of modern industrial and logistics space in Upper Silesia exceeded 1 573 900 sq. meters. Approximately additional 122 400 sq. meters of space was under construction at the end of the last year (56 100 sq. meters in 2013). More industrial and logistics space was under construction only in Poznań. Examples of the largest projects in the region include: Panattoni BTS Bielsko-Biała (45 000 sq. meters) and Panattoni Park Sosnowiec (43 000 sq. meters).
In total, more than 2,54 million sq. meters of warehouse and industrial space was leased in 2014 in Poland. The Upper Silesia was the fifth market in Poland in terms of leasing activity after Warsaw, Wrocław, Poznań and the Central region in Q4 last year. The take-up in the region reached 91 600 sq. meters in the last quarter of 2014 and exceed 300 000 sq. meters during the year. To compare, 349 100 sq. meters of industrial and logistics space was leased in Upper Silesia in 2013. The largest leasing transaction in 2014 was a renewal agreement signed by Carrefour in Distribution Park Będzin.
At the end of 2014, average vacancy rate for Poland amounted to 5,8%. In Upper Silesia, the amount was at the level of 8,4%. Headline rents remain stable, amounting to EUR 2,8 – 3,5 sq. m/month. On average, effective rents are 20% lower than headline rents, according to the CBRE research.