Apartment construction takes back seat, focus on new warehouse spaces, distribution and logistics centers and storage boom – 2024 Retrospective, investments in REAL ESTATE

When real estate and investments in real estate are mentioned, most would probably think that the main topics and articles that attract attention from that field are articles about commercial apartment construction, the building of luxury residential settlements and residential complexes. However, if the most read articles in the field of real estate on the eKapija portal are anything to go by, in the year behind us, much more attention was drawn by articles about new storage capacities in the country, distribution and logistics centers and warehouse spaces…

And there was no lack of plans for these spaces or the construction and opening of the same – from Sombor, through Nova Pazova and Novi Sad, Dobanovci and Jagodina, to Nis.

Still, that there were topics from the field of real estate which primarily concern apartment construction and tourism is confirmed by the article about the construction of type vacation houses in southwest Serbia.

1. New warehouse capacities in Nova Pazova

At the end of October, it was announced that a warehouse and business facility with supporting facilities was planned to be built in Nova Pazova on an area of 64,051 m2. The facility is planned to have a warehouse section that will house zones of a classic rack warehouse intended for storing consumer goods, as well as technical rooms and an administrative section.

The area under the facilities, as announced at the time, will be 37,140 m2, while the total gross developed area of all the floors will be 39,290 m2. The urban design solution for this project also includes 13,065 m2 of green areas, which will amount to 20.40% of the total area of the complex.

This project was commissioned by Logistep d.o.o. from New Belgrade.

2. AliExpress warehouse in Serbia

The Chinese online retail company AliExpress, owned by the Alibaba conglomerate, plans to open a warehouse in Serbia. This was the news that marked the beginning of September in this field.

It was not specified at the time where the warehouse might be located, but one of the company’s shareholders, Nemanja Antic, said that two groups of people would benefit from the arrival of AliExpress - general customers, who could exploit the lower prices initially, and small businesses, which still hadn’t found an interest in registering with the existing platforms (for online retail), said Antic.

Nevertheless, at the time, as a problem that AliExpress might have, he pointed out that shareholders were not that relaxed about a market expansion at any cost. If it is not profitable, it will have to close in Serbia, said Antic. And to be profitable, he added, it would have to overcome some tendencies which are not at all in its favor – from the problematic courier service, the very expensive marketing, the very small consumer basket, to technologically illiterate people.

3. Construction of production and storage facilities in two phases by Mara from Sombor

That the construction of production and storage capacities in Serbia will flourish in the coming period was confirmed by the news about the plan of the Mara company from Sombor, which produces frozen dough, wafers and crusts, to build production and storage facilities in the industrial zone in two phases.

The first phase, as specified, includes the construction of the first production and storage facility (1) with a floor area of B+1, while the second phase entails the construction of a second production and storage facility (2) with a floor area of B+1 and the construction of a substation.

The first facility will have two floors – the ground floor and the upper floor. The ground floor will house the packaging of finished products, a wafer warehouse, six refrigerators and a hallway. The upper floor will house: a machine room and a hallway.

The second B+1 facility will have two floors – the ground floor and the upper floor. The ground floor will house the production facility, a quality control room, six raw material warehouses, an equipment-washing room, a machine room and two corridors. The first floor will house: a machine room, three locker rooms, five sanitary facilities, a laboratory for testing raw materials and products, two storage rooms, a presentation room and a corridor.

4. New logistics warehouse of Gebruder Weiss in Dobanovci

In the year behind us, Gebruder Weiss opened a new logistics warehouse in Dobanovci. The location in Dobanovci meets all its electrical energy needs from a solar system, which reduces CO2 emissions by 90 tons a year.

As the company pointed out last year, the further plans in Serbia include an all-encompassing strategy for improving the operating capacities and market presence. Among other things, the plan of Gebruder Weiss is to increase the warehousing capacities and further expand the local network, with a special focus on home delivery services.

The company is also focusing on introducing additional digital services and improving intermodal solutions.

5. Further development of industrial-logistics parks of CTP

CTP, a company from the Netherlands, has acquired a leading status in the field of building and leasing logistics-industrial parks in the continental part of Europe, and one of the news that marked the field of real estate was the announcement of the further development and expansion of these capacities of CTP in the territory of Serbia and the construction of logistics-industrial parks in 10 strategic locations in Serbia.

CTP’s last year’s balance in Serbia showed that it had reached the figure of 500,000 leased square meters in our country and that the next goal was aiming at 1,000,000 leased square meters.

The end of the year was also marked by the news that CTP had leased 19,000 square meters of warehouse and office space in Serbia to Shanghai Huizhong Automotive Manufacturing Co., LTD. (SHAC), a leading Chinese supplier of various automotive parts and systems, as well as the news that new warehouse and office space would be built within the logistics-industrial park CTPark Belgrade West.

6. New METRO logistics and distribution center in Dobanovci

In November, METRO Cash & Carry Serbia opened a new logistics and distribution center in Dobanovci, covering 15,000 m2, with four temperature zones and built entirely according to the requirements and international standards of this leading food wholesaler in Serbia, headquartered in Germany.

The new center also uses the latest technology for refrigeration systems, without the use of freon, significantly reducing the impact on the environment.

The new center is located within the modern VGP park and enables the reception and storage of the company's entire range of products, including fresh and ultra-fresh foods. The new facility employs more than 110 workers.

7. JAF distribution center and multifunctional showroom in Nis

JAF d.o.o. Serbia opened its second distribution center in Serbia at the beginning of autumn. The distribution center and multifunctional showroom in Nis was officially opened on October 4. The company's new multifunctional showroom in Nis offers a complete range of panel materials and wood products for the furniture and construction industries from JAF's offer.

This space is intended for carpenters, architects, investors, interior designers, manufacturers of furniture, floor and wall coverings, door and window manufacturers and all interested parties who can find here everything they need for interior or exterior wood construction, as well as a wide range of floor and wall coverings and related materials.

8. Type holiday homes in Nova Varos

That the focus in the real estate sector in the past year was not only on storage capacities, warehouses and distribution and logistics centers, is confirmed by the news from the beginning of the year about the plan to build 10 residential buildings in the vicinity of Nova Varos, in the Drmanovici settlement, whose facades are covered with wooden cladding and stone slabs.

Six type buildings (building 1) have been designed for temporary housing (holiday homes - cottages) with all accompanying, auxiliary and other spaces, with a basement, a ground floor and an attic.

Two more type buildings (A frame - building 2) have been planned for temporary housing with all accompanying and other spaces, with basement + ground floor + attic.

The plan is to build two more type buildings (A frame - building 3) for temporary housing with all accompanying and other spaces, with basement + ground floor + attic.

The investor is a private person, and the urban design was carried out by Arhi-dom Projekt from Priboj.

9. Distribution center of Delhaize retail chain on 42,000 m2

In August, the Delhaize Serbia company opened its second Distribution Center in Dobanovci. The new logistics hub, covering an area of 42,000 square meters, operates within the VGP Park Belgrade and is a fundamental resource for the company's future expansion.

The new distribution center is one of the most modern logistics facilities in the country that will help further improve and expand the services provided by Delhaize Serbia.

The Delhaize Distribution Center within the VGP Park in Dobanovci is a modern logistics hub that combines modern logistics technologies and sustainable development. It processes and distributes more than 2,600 different products, for which a racking capacity of over 35,000 pallet spaces is provided. An integral part of the new distribution center is also the most modern banana ripening facility, which covers an area of more than 5,000 square meters.

10. “Storage boom” in Serbia

That it is not a joke and that Serbia is widely implementing business ideas that arise “across the pond” is indicated by a widely read story published on April Fool's Day, April 1, about the so-called storage boom. Mini warehouses, as an innovative concept, arrived to the Serbian market in 2015 with the pioneering venture of the Toro Box company, which installed the first ten containers.

Since then, the popularity of mini warehouses has grown rapidly. This type of storage provides a practical solution for those who are faced with a lack of space and want their belongings to be dry, protected, accessible and insured. As the number of apartments with storage rooms and basements in new buildings is decreasing, it is individuals who most often use these services.

This company has been operating since 2015, and they have a total of 6,000 m2 of space available at three locations. The occupancy rate of their mini warehouses is currently at 70%. At Toro Box, they offer various warehouse dimensions, starting from 1 m2 and up to 400 m2.