Prologis reports strong first quarter performance in Central and Eastern Europe – EuropaProperty

Prologis has announced its first quarter 2015 business activity in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

Prologis was active in the first quarter. The company acquired a 69,105 sqm logistics park 23 kilometres west of the centre of Budapest. It has been renamed Prologis Park Budapest M1.

The company broke ground on two speculative developments totalling 46,200 sqm in Poland:

A 27,650 sqm facility at the fully-occupied Prologis Park Szczecin. The building is already 70-percent pre-let to Bridgestone Stargard and to a home furnishings company. An 18,550 sqm facility at Prologis Park Wroclaw V. The facility is the sixth to be built at this fully-occupied modern park.

Prologis delivered two speculative buildings totalling 53,600 sqm, including 30,000 sqm at Prologis Park Prague-Airport and 23,600 sqm, which is already fully leased, at Prologis Park Bratislava. Currently, the company has five industrial facilities under construction, totalling more than 121,000 sqm.

The company leased approximately 532,000 sqm, 77 percent more than it did in the same period in 2014. This activity comprised new lease agreements totalling 164,000 sqm and lease renewal agreements of nearly 270,000 sqm, with short-term contracts rounding out the remainder. Transactions in Poland accounted for nearly 57 percent of all lease agreements.

The occupancy rate in the portfolio was 93.1 percent at the end of the first quarter.

“We started out the year with great momentum,” said Ben Bannatyne, managing director, regional head, Prologis Central and Eastern Europe. “We invested significantly in the first quarter, focusing on new developments and acquisitions. High occupancy levels in Poland and the CEE region gave us confidence about the timing of both the newly constructed facility in Prague and two speculative buildings under construction in Poland.”