In the segment of commercial real estate in Moscow and the region, stable growth rates are demonstrated by the warehouse market. The positive outlook will continue in 2019. Analysts of a well-known company shared their vision of the situation and spoke about trends in the segment.

The impact of last year’s situation on the development of the warehouse market

Experts of the company claim that in 2019 there will be a shortage of offers. The demand for warehouses of various sizes will increase by about 2 times, and the number of unoccupied premises will fall by 4%.
In 2018, record numbers were observed in this market segment. The volume of demand for this type of space increased to 1.7 million square meters. m., which exceeded the available proposals by double. The reason for this growth was the interest from the retail side. Its share is about 50% of the total number of transactions.
As analysts predict, retail and in 2019 will show steady demand for storage facilities. This situation is explained by the regular growth of sales through Internet resources, including through the various partner schemes offered by online companies.
The observed trend is forcing new construction and complete premises to be sought or erected.
Last year, the volume of Internet companies and online operations of large retailers grew to about 50% of the company’s total statistics. Only with the resource Ozon a contract for the lease of 122 thousand square meters was drawn up. m., which is the largest transaction in Russia, which was committed in the segment of warehouse real estate.

How the shortage of offers will affect the development of the Moscow warehouse market

Growth in demand forces us to look for development paths for other companies in the country. The increase in warehouse space in 2019 has already been announced by large Internet corporations — Alibaba, Mail.Ru Group and several others. It is predicted that approximately 600 thousand square meters will be erected during the year. m. premises used for warehouses. According to analysts, tenants will be interested in more than 1.2 million square meters, which will double the supply in the segment.
In 2019, the shortage in the warehouse market of Moscow will increase. At the moment, there is a decrease in vacancies to 6%, by the end of the year, the figure is expected to be 4%.
According to Andrei Postnikov, the situation of low supply leads to an increase in rental rates. For the current year, they will increase by more than 10%.

The decrease in free storage space is associated with an increase in the area that is being built for a specific customer. In the Company, the share of built-to-suit projects is approximately 60%. An example of such cooperation in 2018 is Utkonos online hypermarket, which occupies a warehouse complex with an area of 69 thousand sq. M. Construction of the built-to-suit format will be observed in 2019.
Trends in the Moscow warehouse market force owners to improve projects and improve the quality of space provided. Tenants appreciate the energy efficient approach to the construction of warehouses, which will significantly save on utility costs.