CENTRAL Europe has experienced a drop in the cost of renting industrial and warehouse premises, according to the current edition of Industrial Space Across the World, published by Cushman & Wakefield.
"All four Central European countries - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - have dropped in ranking from the year before. This is due to the gradual development of the market and the arrival of new players and international developers. The construction of new modern warehouses has also resulted in a significantly expanded supply of spaces to let, which keeps prices down," says Ferdinand Hlobil, head of the Central European industrial team at C&W based in the Czech capital, Prague.
Hungary is the most expensive location in Central Europe, with occupancy costs having climbed to €76/square metre/year. It is followed by the Czech Republic, in 27th place with €72/square metre/year, and Poland, in 31st place at €63/square metre/year. The cheapest is Slovakia, which, at €59/square metre/year, fell from 27th to 38th place.
"The differences between Central European countries are not dramatic, amounting to a few euros, and the rankings might still change rapidly over the next few years. Truly substantial is the difference between London and other locations. [London] is a unique location where air freight transport is perfectly linked to other types of transport. Nothing similar exists in our country [the Czech Republic]," Hlobil explains.
The area around London's Heathrow airport is the most expensive in the world for industrial & warehouse space, with occupancy costs reaching €247/square metre/year. Tokyo is a distant second at €156 and Dublin ranks third at €142.
"There is a continuing interest in Western Europe for locations with excellent market access and transport infrastructure, i.e. ports, airports and spaces along motorways. The availability of labour is also playing an ever-increasing role when selecting spaces, however. To date, capital cities have been the centre of attention in Central Europe, but other regions are becoming an increasingly interesting alternative, primarily due to their greater supply of unoccupied land," Hlobil commented.
- MĎ
