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Central Europe boasts some of continent's top industrial property destinations
Three out of Europe’s top five markets with the best location for industrial/logistics facilities are in Central and Eastern Europe, according to the European Distribution Report 2008, produced biennially by global real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield (C&W). The top position in this year’s ranking is retained by Belgium. In second place is the Netherlands, followed by Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland in fifth place, while Slovakia is the highest new entry at no. 9. The European Distribution Report 2008 includes 25 country locations compared with 15 in previous editions. Reflecting the expansion of the European Union and the growth patterns of international business, most new entries are along Europe’s eastern boundaries. The overall ranking is formed by analysing a range of weighted cost/benefit factors, including factors such as rents, labour costs, congestion, the size of freight markets by type, proximity to key markets and population densities. Bulgaria is ranked third from last at no.23, ahead of Ireland and Sweden. Bulgaria attracts industrial/logistics developers mostly with low labor costs. Rent levels rank the country mid-table with some experts considering the country to be an expensive logistics destination compared to other European countries. The annual rent costs in Bulgaria are around 72 euro/sq m. Top-ranked Belgium offers 50 euro/sq m. Neighboring Romania is at 48 euro/sq m. Bulgarian land prices are also among Europe's highest at around 300 euro/sq m. That compares with Belgium at 30-190 euro, the Czech Republic at 45 euro, Hungary at around 70 euro and Poland at 40-65 euro.Source: http://news.dnevnik.bg/