By KYIV. Nov 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The vacancy of logistics real estate in Kyiv region has increased from 5% in August to 7.5% as of November 2022, Fedir Arbuzov, the CEO of Watermelon Development consulting company, told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the consulting company, the total volume of class A and B logistics real estate in the metropolitan area as of November is 1.580 million square meters. This figure already includes the last stage of the Makarovsky warehouse complex of 27,800 square meters, which replenished the market in September.
"As we predicted, the vacancy of logistics real estate in Kyiv region has grown to 7.5%, in vacant space this equals a little more than 100,000 square meters. At the moment, there is no shortage of warehouse space in Kyiv region as a whole, but all the proposed free space is located in the left-bank region, which does not always meet the demand of tenants," said Arbuzov.
He added that many companies have changed their warehouse business model, opened hubs in Lviv or other Western cities, or switched to cross-dock operations without maintaining significant warehouse balances.
"Today we note that there is almost no demand for logistics real estate in the capital region. Over the past six months, only 4-5 transactions can be noted, which were more often forced, due to the destruction of the locations where they were previously located," he said.
In Lviv and the region, logistics real estate is developing more actively, the volume of supply has reached more than 270,000 high-quality class A and B premises.
However, according to his observations, the trend of relocation of logisticians to the western regions has already ended.
"One can open a branch or an additional hub, but we have not seen applications for a full move from the center to Lviv region in the last two months," he said.
In general, the expert believes that the warehouse real estate market, despite serious losses due to aggression, has shown stability.
"Warehouse logistics is the first necessary component for the forthcoming speedy recovery of the country," Arbuzov emphasized.
Watermelon Development consulting company has 15 years of experience in the field of warehouse logistics, as well as office and retail real estate.
