Boom cubed

The warehouse market is breaking one record after another. The number of warehousing centres built, the projected new developments and the queues of tenants must give grounds for satisfaction. The fine health of the industry was debated by more than 100 experts, as well as its growth prospects, at the ‘Living in a Box’ conference organized by ‘Eurobuild Poland’

The seventh annual conference on the warehouse and logistics market was held on May 9th in the modern premises of Warsaw’s Hilton hotel. The meeting was opened by Tomasz Mika of Cushman & Wakefield, whose presentation was devoted to the latest market results and a summary of the year gone by. While speaking of market trends, he highlighted new locations on the warehouse map of Poland, including Bydgoszcz and Szczecin.

 

Where best to invest

The panel on hotspots for new investments was the subject of Błażej Kucharski (representing Gdańsk), Bartek Włodarski of Apollo–Rida Poland, Mirosław Koszany of Biuro Inwestycji Kapitałowych and Przemysław Marchlewicz of Gdynia Maritime Port. The panel participants added the TriCity to the list of best locations, but maintained that the Upper and Lower Silesia areas, as well as Warsaw, still have much to offer. It was predicted that 2007 will see a boom squared – or even to the power three. Alan Aleksandrowicz of Gdańsk during his presentation on creating a Pomerania Logistics Centre, stressed the positive aspects of investing in modern warehouses on the Baltic Sea coast.

Following a coffee break, further discussion was chaired by Waldemar Olejnik of CB Richard Ellis. The debate on whether companies from the light production sector offer greater temptations for warehouse developers, as well as one on the growing demand for space adapted to manufacturers’ requirements, was continued by Lidia Goettig of Europa Distribution Centre, Tomasz Branecki of Jartom Agency and Ben Bannatyne of Jones Lang LaSalle. The latest technologies used by the sector were the subject of another panel chaired by prof. Krzysztof Rutkowski of the Warsaw School of Economics.Ryszard Ćwirko of Maspex Wadowice, Maciej Rafałowski of BCS Polska and Andrzej Bobiński of Logifact spoke on the importance of automated warehouses.

 

Big boxes for smaller companies

Following a distinctly tasty lunch, the participants returned to the debating room to hear what the panel had to say on the part which small tenants play on the market. The floor was taken by Aleksander Domaradzki of the Economic and Logistics Advisory Service, Renata Osiecka of Colliers International, Piotr Wasilewski of Emmerson and Ryszard Warzocha of Wincanton.

Marcin Nowacki of Łódź Special Economic Zone spoke of the advantages of investing in such zones and the conditions required to enter such spaces, while Sylvain Cotin of FM Logistic Polska, speaking of the pros and contras of the leasing and independent developing of warehouses by logistics operators, concluded the essential part of the whole meeting, which was chaired by Ewa Andrzejewska, a ‘Eurobuild Poland’ journalist. The less formal part of the conference closed much later with cocktails for everyone.

 

In the words of the participants:

Lidia Goettig, managing director, Europa Distribution Centre

I feel we charged our batteries when hearing how the economy was speeding forward and the prospects for growth which lie ahead. And this is what we all sense and have sensed in one way or another for some time. So it came as no surprise to feel a very pleasant climate during the conference.

 

Katarzyna Pyś-Fabiańczyk, research & development manager, Menard Doswell

Eurobuild Poland organized conferences provide an excellent summary of all that is happening on the real estate market, covering the largest transactions, new investments and trends. Due to the growth of Alliance Silesia Logistics Centre – our latest investment – the Silesian market is the most interesting for us, though I listened with interest to lectures and discussions on new attractive locations.

 

Maciej Cieliczko, industrial associate, Colliers International

The panel on automation had a central place at the conference. Increasing numbers of companies are interested due to its speed, flexibility and greater effectiveness. Another subject which also aroused much interest was that of companies from the sector of light production which are making increasing use of warehouse developers’ services. The participants also expressed an optimistic approach to the huge opportunity which organizing Euro 2012 offers. To sum up my sole remark for Polish market prospects is: 3 times boom!!!