The warehouse market is breaking new ground

The warehouse market is currently experiencing rapid growth. Along with the development of new technologies designed to improve warehouse operations and protect the environment, the number of tenants requiring specialized warehouse space for their operations is increasing. New locations are also emerging.

The nature and location of new projects are, to a large extent today, being shaped by the growth of e-commerce. But this is not the only factor. The diverse tenant mix and the challenges tenants face in the current economic climate are driving the market to take entirely new directions.

More and more companies that are considering building warehouses to meet their own needs are recognizing the flexibility of a lease.

“More and more companies are becoming interested in leasing, which, on the one hand, does not require such a large capital investment and, on the other, allows them (to a certain extent) to adapt their operations to changing market conditions. The main advantage of our warehouses is their versatility, which is often what tenants value,” says Kamila Pruk-Piotrowska.

Business is about people 

The largest companies are strengthening their position in the Polish market. This is especially true for the e-commerce sector, whose facilities must have access to a large labor pool.

“Not long ago, the key factor in selecting a location for a logistics center was its immediate surroundings—being as close as possible to major road junctions and transportation routes. Today, access to a sufficiently large pool of workers or highly qualified personnel is an equally important factor. This has led to the development of new warehouse locations,” says Kamila Pruk.

The final stretch is drawing ever closer 

Online sales and consumers’ growing expectations for fast service and deliveries are drawing tenants to cities. There is a growing number of projects that, wherever possible, are converting old industrial or retail buildings into modern urban logistics centers.

“7R has several sites in its portfolio that are set to undergo some form of transformation. These include a former chemical plant, which will soon be replaced by a modern and functional City Flex center,” says Kamila Pruk-Piotrowska.“More and more projects of this kind are being developed, and I expect this trend to continue. Moreover, it’s not just old factory buildings—there are also retail centers. In this way, we will not only have a positive impact on the environment (through, for example, land reclamation) but also on the city’s image by transforming old, dilapidated buildings into functional centers,” she adds.

The need to shorten delivery times is also driving the rapid growth of the courier industry, which is also relying on technology to make the final stage of deliveries more efficient and faster. Some companies no longer measure delivery times in hours but in minutes.

Data centers in bloom 

One of the leading trends in the warehouse real estate sector is also the rapid growth of data centers.

“We expect the share of data centers in the 7R portfolio to grow. These are businesses with very specific needs, such as their high electricity consumption. And 7R has extensive experience in developing them,”notes Kamila Pruk-Piotrowska.