A total of 71,000 square meters of these spaces was the so-called take up, i.e. leased premises cleared of lease extensions in the tenant's current premises. The share of renegotiations was at the level of 34 percent.

Despite the decrease in rental activity, however, within this segment of the real estate market, the occupancy rate increased. This follows from the quarterly report of the global real estate consulting company CBRE.

More than 3.7 million square meters

In terms of leased area, the most square meters were leased in the wider area of Bratislava (51 percent), followed by the rest of western Slovakia (42 percent). In the end, central and eastern Slovakia represented only 7 percent of the total rental activity.

In terms of the amount of space rented in square meters, the 3PL sector (providers of complex logistics services) led the way, accounting for up to 69 percent. The remaining volume of space was shared by the automotive industry (18 percent), the retail sector (3 percent), manufacturing (2 percent) and other segments (8 percent).

According to the findings of CBRE, the commercial real estate market in the area of production and logistics halls in A standard crossed the 3.7 million square meter mark at the end of the first quarter.

Additional premises are under construction

The total vacancy rate of these premises in Slovakia at the end of the 1st quarter of 2023 fell to the level of 3.29 percent. The lowest vacancy rate (0.61 percent) was recorded in western Slovakia (outside the wider Bratislava area).

This was followed by the wider area of Bratislava, where vacancy fell to 3.64 percent. In central Slovakia, on the contrary, it grew to the level of 6.54 percent, as well as in eastern Slovakia, where it climbed up to 9.48 percent.

"At the moment, another almost 256,000 square meters of industrial and logistics space is under construction, which is scheduled to be handed over in 2023, and 33,000 square meters of space, the construction of which should be completed in 2024. In these projects, at the end of March, approximately 33 percent of the premises are leased, while another approximately 30 percent have been withdrawn from the offer by the developers, as they are in an advanced phase of negotiations with future tenants," explains Michal Cerulík, director of logistics and industrial real estate leasing at CBRE Slovakia.