The current situation in the market for warehouse space in Poland, its development and dynamics, more and more often forces developers to continually search for land for investments. They are increasingly deciding to develop speculative space in order to ensure faster availability to tenants, which in turn generates the need to look for more investment land.

The very process of acquiring the investment land and its preparation for the investment implementation is a multi-stage process and even in the most delicate scenario it takes the investor several to several dozen months. This process can be shortened if the land is included in the Local Development Plan or if favourable Development Conditions have been obtained, necessary administrative permits and media conditions from the network operators. It is worth noting, however, that the majority of investments in the industrial and warehousing sector require a number of additional arrangements and approvals with authorities examining their impact on the environment. At this stage specialist analyses are often required, which prolong the investment process and obtaining an Environmental Decision for the planned project is a milestone in its implementation.

Making investment land more attractive

Therefore, it is very important to determine at the initial stage of the investment process the exact parameters of the target facility that can be constructed on the site. This will help to properly prepare the land for investment and improve its attractiveness. Favourable entries in the Local Development Plan and obtaining necessary documentation will certainly shorten the decision-making time for the target buyer and will positively influence the process of possible negotiations. In this situation it is very important to choose an advisor who knows the market needs and current trends. He or she will help to choose an action strategy and minimize costs, bringing out the best from the potential of the investment site.

Recent years show an increased interest in centres of lower importance and lower purchasing power, but well connected with other parts of the country and located at major junctions of transport routes. Smaller cities with a large number of employees ready to take up new jobs, mainly located in the eastern areas of our country, are becoming attractive for investors. Often, land in these cities is even waiting for investors, but it must be carefully prepared to meet the requirements adapted to modern storage and industry.

Land owned by individuals mostly requires a number of activities to make the area in question attractive. Properties owned by companies or partnerships, which often acquired the land for investment purposes or to develop their own facilities, are perceived by developers or investors as much more attractive. At present, there is a trend to buy and develop former industrial sites or even sites degraded by previous activities. Developers are no longer afraid of demolishing old buildings or replacing land contaminated by years of exploitation, but only when the price is adequate to the costs to be incurred. All this means that finding land with potential and preparing it for the investment process is nowadays more and more difficult. This is certainly helped by the construction of new road networks, which in recent years have allowed new regions of the country to open up to potential investments. In many cases, however, an appropriate strategy on the part of local authorities and land owners is essential to attract investors.

It often happens that attractive land belongs to local authorities, i.e. to the commune authorities (municipal property) or to the Poviat Starosty (district authorities) (they manage the State Treasury land). However, in the case of the desire to purchase such real estate it is necessary to win a tender organised in accordance with the provisions of the law and the Act on real estate management, but this is a subject for another, separate article.