Finding a warehouse space

The Wroclaw market is also one of the most dynamic in Poland in terms of demand and new supply volumes with average annual leasing activity standing at 441,100 sq m and average annual new supply at 211,000 sq m in the years 2015-2019. In the first three quarters of 2020 almost 329,300 sq m of new space was completed in Dolnoslaskie voivodeship and the leasing activity stood at 352,000 sq m.

Despite the COVID-19 situation, the results from the first half of the year in the warehouse market turned out to be very good. Tenants did not make sudden decisions and the pending transactions relating to new projects or expansions continued as planned. Agreements are still being signed despite initial difficulties with physical contact, and the volume of newly signed transactions in the first half of the year was higher than for previous years.

A historical view of the Wroclaw industrial and logistics real estate market

From a trade, logistics, and overall business perspective, Wroclaw region has been always benefiting from the favorable geographical location close to the German and Czech borders, along with one of the main transit corridors between Western and Eastern Europe – the A4 highway. Due to this very reason, the first industrial and logistics developments started springing up in the southern part of the city where the highway runs, and more specifically in the Bielany Wroclawskie area which became a prime industrial and logistics real estate location with most of the Wroclaw’s blue chip manufacturing, 3PL and e-commerce companies having established presence there (Amazon, Cargill, Mondelez, Sauer Danfoss, Orsay/Ordipol, Kuehne+Nagel, and many others). The rapid development of road and air transportation infrastructure prior to the 2012 European Football Championships (primarily the A8 highway bypass connecting with A4 on Wroclaw’s south-western fringe), as well as the later construction of the S8 expressway linking Wroclaw with Warsaw and central Poland resulted in the dramatic improvement of the city’s accessibility and opened up a number of new locations which now became suitable for industrial real estate development (mainly north and north-eastern parts of the city, but also the farther locations in the south). Today, industrial and logistics parks delivered by institutional developers offer manufacturing and warehouse accommodation in virtually every part of the greater Wroclaw area including both big box and small business unit solutions.

How to find a warehouse or industrial space in Wroclaw?

The identification and implementation of the best real estate solution can be accomplished in a few simple steps, the outline of which has been described below.

The identification and implementation

Phase 1DETERMINING KEY PROJECT REQUIREMENTS AND BUSINESS OBJECTIVES	preferred location(s), desired building footprint (size) and site area, timing requirements (delivery deadlines: early access and lease commencement), planned employment (white and blue collars) and employee skills required, defining mandatory and optional technical requirements for the building (clear height, loading docks, floor load capacity, etc.), analyzing potential environmental hazards related to the envisioned business activity (if applicable, e.g. in case of a heavy manufacturing operation generating emissions, such as noise, vibrations, dust, etc.), preparing a preliminary site and building layouts.
Phase 2A LOCATION ANALYSIS	real estate market analysis and preparation of a long list of suitable locations based on predefined project requirements, HR & supply chain analyses to determine an ideal location offering the best trade-off between labor, real estate, and transportation costs, preparation of a short list of most suitable locations/sites based on findings of the HR, real estate, and supply chain analyses, selection of the most preferred location and a back-up option.
Phase 2BTENDER PROCESS	preparation of a list of developers/landlords capable of delivering the project in a selected location, structured „Request for Proposal” (RFP) process, interviews with developers/landlords and offer procurement, quantitative and qualitative analysis of offers – financial and technical aspects, selection of the best offer and a back-up option, setting up a negotiation strategy with the selected partner.
Phase 3CONTRACT NEGOTIATION AND TRANSACTION MANAGEMENT	negotiations with the selected developer/landlord and agreeing on main commercial terms of a transaction – Heads of Terms (HOT’s), plus optionally a Letter of Intent (LOI), finalizing the technical specification, building and site layouts, final negotiations and execution of a Lease Agreement (LA).
Phase 4 CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT	monitoring of the progress of works according to the construction time schedule, supervision of the quality and completeness of works being performed, obtaining an occupancy permit and takeover of the premises (building handover), implementation of technology & testing.

Methods of acquiring an industrial/logistics space

Leasehold

scenario 1

Lease of vacant existing space in an existing industrial/logistics park

scenario 2

Pre-lease of the desired space in an existing industrial/logistics park

scenario 3

Built to Suit in a new location – either selected by the investor or predefined by existing market opportunities

Freehold

scenario 4

Brownfield - acquisition of an existing facility to be adopted for investors future needs

scenario 5

Developer - acquisition of serviced land and development of the facility with an industrial developer

scenario 6

Contractor(s) - acquisition of serviced land and development of the facility with a General Contractor or several contractors