Interview with Martin Polák, GARBE Managing Director Central & Eastern Europe • Garbe Industrial Real Estate

Martin Polák (37)

GARBE Managing Director Central & Eastern Europe I GARBE Industrial Real Estate Slovakia, s.r.o.| Responsible for Central Eastern Europe expansion

1 Why has GARBE increased activity in the CEE region?

GARBE goes wherever we see potential. We see expanding into the CEE region as the only the logical outcome of market developments taking place across top European markets. Our expansion into Central Eastern Europe is allowing us to broaden our activities in markets where several connections between the industrial and logistics sector have historically already existed. Furthermore, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have the highest e-commerce growth rates in Central and Eastern Europe. These countries are an attractive investment destination thanks to the favourable wage level, established logistics market as well as the large sales market. The positive economic environment also indicates that there will be further growth in the real estate market.

2 What makes the Polish logistics market special?

Poland is a special market. For one, it is already an established logistics centre in Central Eastern Europe and, secondly, it is still rich in potential. The Polish market is different than the markets in the Czech Republic or Slovakia in that it is much more diverse in terms of its geography and the key actors involved. It is does not have one single centre or just a few players. In addition to the established top submarkets such as Warsaw or Katowice, secondary markets such as Gdańsk and Szczecin are also becoming more and more important. New locations are developing, and there are also a lot of attractive opportunities in the different regions. The Polish logistics market will become even more intriguing in future due to massive infrastructure investments and growing domestic consumption.

3 What impact has the coronavirus had on the Polish market?

In comparison to other industries, the Polish logistics sector was resilient and was not seriously impacted by the pandemic. In fact, the Polish logistics market witnessed new highs, recording a transaction volume of €2.6 billion and a take-up of over 5.4 billion square metres. Some players were initially cautious, but eventually took action as planning become more and more secure. The pandemic also caused supply chains to restructure and thereby altered the demand for space. Polish logistics properties gained a reputation as a safe haven and enjoyed growing popularity among investors. We are also not straying from our strategy to expand during the pandemic. Instead, we are keeping a close eye on the market economy and social developments in Poland and carefully considering what steps we should take next.

4 What are the Polish market’s major drivers of demand?

Poland has one of the highest growth rates in the e-commerce sector in Central Eastern Europe. Online business is thus one of the main drivers of demand in the logistics sector. International online retailers such as Zalando and Amazon are increasingly conquering the Polish market because they know that it is a new market for sales with many locational advantages. The land required for courier, express and parcel service providers as well as contract logistics providers is on the rise as well. Demand is also increasing because many companies want to optimise their supply chains as a result of the pandemic. In terms of investment, demand picked up strongly due to yield stability and attractive returns in times of crisis. In 2020, logistics properties provided a glimmer of hope on the investment market as they proved to be almost immune to the pandemic.

5 How do you expect the Polish logistics market to develop?

In general, we expect the Polish logistics market to grow robustly in the future. Poland has a lot of catching up to do in terms of online business, and just as great is the need for space. The logistics market will also profit from global supply chain restructuring in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit because some companies are relocating their production facilities back to Europe. Poland is an ideal nearshoring and outsourcing location in many different ways. Environmental aspects will also play an increasingly important role on the Polish market in the future. Both users and investors want more sustainable properties. Polish logistics properties will continue to be appealing for investors in the future because prices are substantially lower than those in the European top markets despite the yield stability. Rising purchase prices will continue to drive down yields due to the limited supply. The excess demand for modern logistics space will ensure stable growth of rental prices despite the high volume of new buildings. A number of exciting opportunities are set to come for the Polish logistics market – especially with no downturn in sight.

Name	Borlabs Cookie
Provider	Eigentümer dieser Website, Imprint
Purpose	Speichert die Einstellungen der Besucher, die in der Cookie Box von Borlabs Cookie ausgewählt wurden.
Cookie Name	borlabs-cookie
Cookie Expiry	1 Jahr

Accept	LinkedIn
Name	LinkedIn
Provider	LinkedIn
Purpose	Marketing
Privacy Policy	https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/87150/linkedin-marketing-solutions-und-die-datenschutz-grundverordnung-dsgvo-?lang=de

Accept	Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Name	Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Provider	Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose	Cookie von Google für Website-Analysen. Erzeugt statistische Daten darüber, wie der Besucher die Website nutzt.
Privacy Policy	https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de
Cookie Name	_ga,_gat,_gid
Cookie Expiry	2 Jahre

Accept	Facebook
Name	Facebook
Provider	Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
Purpose	Wird verwendet, um Facebook-Inhalte zu entsperren.
Privacy Policy	https://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation
Host(s)	.facebook.com

Accept	Google Tag Manager
Name	Google Tag Manager
Provider	Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose	Cookie by Google used to control advanced script and event handling.
Privacy Policy	https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Cookie Name	_ga,_gat,_gid
Cookie Expiry	2 Years

Accept	OpenStreetMap
Name	OpenStreetMap
Provider	Openstreetmap Foundation, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom
Purpose	Wird verwendet, um OpenStreetMap-Inhalte zu entsperren.
Privacy Policy	https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy
Host(s)	.openstreetmap.org
Cookie Name	_osm_location, _osm_session, _osm_totp_token, _osm_welcome, _pk_id., _pk_ref., _pk_ses., qos_token
Cookie Expiry	1-10 Jahre