Leading European industrial developer Panattoni has announced the largest lease in the CEP (courier, express and parcel) sector. The developer is to provide InPost with warehouses in eight locations with a total area of 75,500 sqm. The centres are to be built this year.
Panattoni’s InPost hubs are to be built in Wrocław and Poznań and also in Radzymin, which will serve the northern part of the Warsaw conurbation. The company is also providing locations in Kalisz, Siedlce, Szczecin, Wałbrzych and Rzeszów. This is the latest collaboration between the two companies – so far Panattoni has leased approximately 325,500 sqm to InPost.
“This is a unique deal, as it covers eight locations with a total area of 75,500 sqm. This project also confirms the trend on the market for couriers to invest in an increasing number of regional distribution centres as well as in smaller facilities in order to improve delivery efficiency both in terms of cost and delivery time. And this would not have been possible without the experience of Panattoni and such innovators as Inpost,” said Marek Dobrzycki, Managing Director of Panattoni.
In 2020, the gross value of online goods sales in Poland amounted to PLN 83 billion. According to research by PWC, in 2021 the figure is projected to be PLN 93 billion and is expected to grow to as much as PLN 162 billion by 2026 – an average annual increase of 12 percent. At the same time, 85 percent of Poles intend to at least maintain their current rate of online purchases after Covid-19. A study by Gemius also shows that lower delivery costs, as well as a significant reduction in delivery times, are resulting in the increased frequency of online purchases. Therefore, the development of new distribution centres closer to the customer is helping to drive the growth of e-commerce as it increases the attractiveness of this way of shopping among internet users.
“We have been the leader when it comes to leasing logistics space in Poland for two years, but our infrastructure is still set to grow exponentially this year. In 2020 we doubled the turnover and volume of shipments we handle – and this year promises to be even better. Poland, due to having the largest network of Paczkomaty® automated drop boxes in Europe and a huge logistics base, will serve as a prototype for our international expansion. Our model is unique globally and would be very difficult to replicate. And most of all it is confirmed by the millions of consignments we deliver according to the D+1 schedule. I can say that there is probably no player like us to be found across the whole of Europe – and it would take many years of hard work and huge investment to catch up with us. Now our potential will be enhanced further thanks to the new Paczkomaty® centre, which will start operating in the middle of the year, along with our planned acquisition of Mondial Relay – a French company with an extensive network of 15,800 pick-up and drop-off points (PUDOs) in France, the Benelux countries and the Iberian Peninsula,” said Rafał Brzoska, the president of InPost.
For several years, Panattoni has played an active part in the growth in e-commerce’s share in the market, thanks to which it now specialises in providing designer online sales space in big-box formats, multi-tenant parks, last-mile parks and BTS facilities. So far, the developer has completed approx. 3.3 sqm of e-commerce dedicated space, which amounts to 30 percent of Panattoni’s projects to date.
