The Warsaw-headquartered developer delivered over 6.4 million m2 of warehouse and industrial space over the three-year period, up from 6.3 million m2 in the previous survey, which covered the period 2017-2019.

Panattoni was followed in second place by Prologis, which completed 2.4 million m2 of space between 2018 and 2020, with Segro taking the third spot at 2.3 million m2.

Together, the 17 companies featured in this year’s ranking delivered 19.6 million m2 of industrial and logistics space, including nearly 3 million m2 of urban facilities. Combined, the top three players account for more than half of the delivered total.

Three players in this year’s ranking reported a delivery total in excess of two million m2 for the three-year period, while seven participants reported completions in excess of 1 million m2.

Goodman and P3 did not take part in the survey this year. In last year's ranking, Goodman reported a total 2.9 million m2 of completed facilities in Europe over 2017-2019, taking second place.

PropertyEU's ranking has traditionally focused on cross-border players, but the inclusion this year of a couple of companies active in two or even just one market reflects the growing weight of these local firms. A case in point is Somerset Capital Partners, which is active in just the Dutch market. The privately held firm developed a total 630,000 m2 over the last three years and has a pipeline of 1.2 million m2 for 2021-2023. Similarly, DHG, a Dutch developer which submitted figures after our ranking was compiled and published, delivered 552.093 m² in the Netherlands over 2018-2020.

Pipeline ranking
The sustained strong demand for warehouse and logistics space, spurred by e-commerce and other Covid-induced trends such as nearshoring, are reflected in developers' pipelines for the next three years. Combined, the 16 companies which submitted figures for PropertyEU's pipeline ranking plan to build around 45 million m2 of logistics facilities across more than 900 projects over 2021-2023. This is around 2 million m2 more than the 43 million m2 total pipeline recorded last year.

Panattoni alone plans to develop over 27 million m2 between 2021 and 2023, while Prologis has a potential pipeline of around 3.6 million m2 and GLP Europe over 2.7 million m2.

Commenting on the results of the latest ranking, Robert Dobrzycki, CEO of Panattoni, said: 'Earning the title of the largest developer in Europe for the fifth time in a row shows that our company has clearly been strengthening its position on the European market. It confirms that the development directions we have adopted were obviously the right ones. A major part in this has been played by the growth of e-commerce, which the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated even further.'

He added: 'Automated centres built for this sector already account for 35% of all our projects. The number of "last mile" city parks we have developed in Germany, the UK and Poland is also growing.'

Dobrzycki noted that the disruption to supply chains caused by the pandemic has prompted many companies to consider relocating their manufacturing businesses or parts of them to Europe to be closer to their customers. 'The Central European markets in which we operate can only benefit from this,' he said.

The full report appears in the April/May edition of PropertyEU Magazine.