Poland is one of Europe’s leaders in retail space under construction

Strong retail construction will continue in 2014

Poland is one of Europe's leaders in retail space under construction

The supply of new shopping center space in 2014 will be similar to that in 2013. A total of 520,000 sqm of new space will be added to the stock, including some 120,000 sqm in six expanded malls, according to Katarzyna Michnikowska, senior conultant at Cushman & Wakefield.

The biggest opening next year will be Atrium Felicity in Lublin (73,000 sqm of GLA) and Galeria Warmiska in Olsztyn (41,000 sqm), Ms Michnikowska said.

This year saw several large shopping malls delivered to the market, with Pozna City Center (61,000 sqm) and Galeria Katowicka in the Silesian Agglomeration (53,000 sqm) marking some of the biggest openings. A total of 650,000 sqm of retail space was completed throughout 2013, 20 percent more than last year.

Poland continues to be one of Europes leading countries in retail space construction. It came in fourth, after Russia, Turkey and the UK in terms of new retail space delivered in the first half of 2013.

Smaller cities in the running

As major Polish cities grow increasingly saturated in retail space, developers are turning their focus to smaller cities with populations of 200,000 or less.

In the next few years developers focus on smaller cities will set the tone for the retail market, said Patrycja Dzikowska, associate director of research and consultancy at Jones Lang LaSalle. New schemes are being constructed in cities like Olsztyn, Kalisz, Elblg, Lublin and Siedlce, Ms Dzikowska added.

Some of those smaller cities are already showing significant saturation levels, such as Rzeszw, with 800 sqm per 1,000 inhabitants, Legnica and Opole. These cities, however, act as retail hubs for several other smaller towns, sometimes even 100 km away, and thus their retail centers may have much larger catchment areas. Still, developers should be very careful when considering a new project there, Ms Dzikowska remarked.

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Poland is one of Europe's leaders in retail space under construction