Coffee with Craig Show – daily CRE news covering the CEE region, Thursday, August 3, with Winston Norman, Editor and Chief of EuropaProperty.com.
PAD RES will deliver two photovoltaic farms in northern Poland
PAD RES, a Polish developer in the clean energy sector, will build two photovoltaic farms in the Pomeranian region with a total capacity of 117 megawatts. The solar farms will cover a total area of around 140 hectares and will have the capability to power around 65,000 households.
Kajima Europe and Griffin Capital Partners acquired majority shares in PAD RES. Since then, the company has been systematically expanding its portfolio. Currently, PAD RES holds projects with secured Grid Connection Conditions exceeding 500MW.
Jędrzej Socha, Senior Vice President of Investments at Griffin Capital Partners, says: “The renewable energy market in Poland is growing, and upcoming changes in the energy mix will necessitate the development of new capacity from renewable sources.”
Chris Gill, Investments Director & Head of Renewables at Kajima, says: “Intensive efforts are underway in Poland to diversify the country’s energy mix, with a strong focus on zero-emission sources aiming to play a significant and dominant role in this process.”
Poland’s largest investment projects worth around €190 billion says Spectis
The growth potential of the Polish construction market will remain significant through 2028 on the back of ambitious road and railway construction projects, the energy transition of the Polish economy, the development of e-commerce, growing trends of nearshoring and friendshoring, and an upturn in the military construction segment.
The total value of 960 largest investment projects underway or planned in the 16 regions of Poland is estimated at around PLN 865 billion (€190 billion), according to the findings of the latest report from research firm Spectis, “Construction market in Poland 2023-2028 – an analysis of 16 voivodships”. Such a sharp jump in the value of the key projects was driven by a hike in the number of multi-billion power projects and across-the-board price increases in all segments of the construction market.
A study of the investment plans indicates that Pomorskie and Mazowieckie are in the lead in terms of project value. The value of the top 60 projects in these regions exceeds PLN 130 billion.
Poland’s retail market sees surge in retail park development
According to the latest data from Cushman & Wakefield, Poland’s total retail stock stands at just over 16.1 million sqm. Another 300,000 sqm is expected to be delivered by the end of this year. At the end of Q2 2023, there was close to 500,000 sqm of retail space under construction, seven international brands debuted on the Polish market and the expansion of retail parks continues.
The second quarter of 2023 saw seven new retailers opening their stores in Poland – these included Woolworth, Hugo, Helly Hansen, Nuumo and Bob Snail. In addition, two pure online retailers (Centrumrowerowe.pl and Engwe E-Bikes) opened their first physical stores.
All retail sectors posted positive year-on-year rental growth in the second quarter of 2023. “There was a marginal uplift in rents over the first quarter for prime units in the best-in-class retail parks. The downturn in the consumer market and lower real turnover levels experienced by tenants are the main drivers behind the downward pressure on non-prime rents,” concludes Paulina Bauer, Head of Asset Services Retail, Cushman & Wakefield.
