Accolade: Logistics Closer to the End Customer – Regions Take a Leading Role on Poland’s Industrial Map
The year 2025 confirmed a significant shift in the structure of demand for industrial and logistics space in Poland. Companies are increasingly moving away from concentrating their operations in a single, large logistics hub and are instead developing networks of regional locations closer to end customers and sales markets. Leasing data from Accolade shows that this trend is no longer niche – in the past year alone, the investor leased nearly 400,000 sq m of industrial space, primarily in regions outside the country’s largest metropolitan areas, translating into approximately 5,000 jobs nationwide.
Demand was distributed across several regions, including West Pomerania, Podlaskie, Lubuskie and Kuyavian-Pomeranian, with no single market clearly dominating. This structure points to a lasting geographical shift rather than a one-off market effect. Regions are no longer an alternative to core markets – they are becoming a cornerstone of modern supply chains.
This development reflects broader processes observed across Central and Eastern Europe. As highlighted in the report “Colliers CEE-6 Real Estate Market – Highlights & Predictions 2025/2026”, the industrial and logistics sector remains one of the main beneficiaries of nearshoring and supply chain reconfiguration, with companies increasingly seeking locations that enhance operational resilience and reduce the risks associated with business concentration.
– Our day-to-day discussions with tenants clearly show that companies are currently looking for three key factors: operational resilience and stable supply chains, access to labour, and flexibility that allows them to respond to market changes without a significant increase in costs. These are highly pragmatic decisions, driven by real business challenges rather than expansion ambitions. This is why we are seeing a clear shift in demand towards regional markets – locations that not only better address companies’ operational needs today, but also tangibly strengthen local labour markets by generating thousands of jobs nationwide. – says Joanna Sinkiewicz, Managing Director Accolade in Poland.
Retail Moves Closer to the Customer, Logistics Follows
One of the key drivers behind the regionalisation of demand is the transformation of retail and changing consumer behaviour. The development of omnichannel models, the growing importance of convenience formats such as retail parks, and pressure to shorten delivery times mean that retail and e-commerce companies are increasingly locating their logistics facilities closer to the end customer.
Instead of a single central distribution location serving the entire country, businesses are opting for several small or mid-sized sites located closer to consumer markets, borders or ports. This approach enables better control over operating costs, greater flexibility and reduced exposure to supply chain disruptions.
The evolution of retail further reinforces this trend. According to the “Colliers CEE-6 Real Estate Market – Highlights & Predictions 2025/2026” report, the development of retail parks and the expansion of retail networks into smaller cities have become the dominant model across CEE markets. Combined with the growing role of convenience and omnichannel formats, this is driving demand for logistics infrastructure located closer to consumers.
Optimisation Over Expansion
In 2025, leasing decisions were largely a response to market conditions rather than a sign of aggressive expansion. Tenants increasingly focus on operational efficiency, cost stability and access to local labour markets. Regional locations offering solid infrastructure, predictable employment conditions and opportunities for further scaling are therefore gaining importance.
From an investor’s perspective, nearly 400,000 sq m of leased space in a single year represents a result almost twice as high as in the previous year, yet its significance goes beyond scale alone. For more than 11 years, Accolade has consistently invested in regional markets which – alongside the maturation of supply chains and changes in companies’ operating models – have evolved into fully fledged components of Poland’s industrial real estate landscape. The 2025 data confirms that this strategy was not an alternative to core markets, but a long-term response to tenant needs and structural changes in demand.