Booming growth of warehouse facilities in Russian regions
The pace of construction and commissioning of warehouses in the Russian regions in 2020 is several times ahead of last year.
At the end of the first half of 2020, the volume of transactions with warehouse real estate in the regions of the Russian Federation increased by 4,7 times compared to the same period in 2019. Such data are given in the research of Sberbank “Commercial real estate. Business Model Adaptation”.
The volume of commissioning of new facilities in the regions of Russia (excluding Moscow and St. Petersburg) in January-June reached 354 000 m². This is 2,3 times more than the average for previous years. At the same time 40-60% of the objects were contracted. According to Colliers International estimates, another 430 000 m² of warehouses is expected to be commissioned by the end of the year, of which 190 000 m² will be built according to the build-to-suit scheme.
“The global trend - an increase in investor interest in warehouse real estate - is also typical for Russia, which is expressed in a faster decline in capitalization rates and a record inflow of investments into the segment. Large online retailers, faced with an explosive growth in the volume of orders during a pandemic, have become the main driver of demand for warehouse premises”, - said Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank. At the same time, according to the expert, 73% of the total demand in the warehouse real estate market was provided by retail operators, including 21% accounted for by online stores. And Mr. Popov believes that it is the e-commerce players who will become the industry driver in the long term.
