A record year since independence: 205,000 sq. m. of new warehouses will appear near Kyiv

During the first half of 2025, about 107,000 sq m of new space was commissioned in the warehousing market in the Greater Kyiv area. This figure corresponds to the annual volume of new supply for 2024 and is the highest half-year figure in more than a decade, according to Expandia, CBRE's representative in Ukraine and Moldova.

By the end of the year, another 98,000 sq m of new space is expected to be commissioned, which will increase the total new supply for the year to 205,000 sq m. This is the highest rate of market supply for all the years of independence, analysts emphasize.

For comparison: in 2022, 45,500 sq m of new space was introduced to the warehouse market in the capital region, in 2023 no new facilities were commissioned, and in 2024 93,000 sq m of new supply appeared.

According to Expandia's estimates, the addition will increase the total warehouse supply to 1.47 million square meters (up 6%).

The new key projects include the Oleksandrivskyi III logistics complex (41,000 sq m) and Chaiky V logistics complex (57,000 sq m), both by Dnipro-based developer Alfa Development Group. Also, part of the area of the RLC warehouse complex, which was damaged by rocket attacks in 2022, was restored, bringing the total supply of warehouse space to 11,000 sq m.

Despite this growth, the market is likely to remain in a balanced phase, with vacancy rates and rents expected to remain stable as new space is quickly absorbed by pent-up demand for high quality stock. This suggests that the market is in the early to mid-stage of a new development cycle and there is no risk of oversupply in the near term.

However, the new space will not solve the problem of critical shortage of space in the warehousing market, as demand still exceeds supply. Despite the new supply entering the market, the vacancy rate in the sector decreased to 3% (-0.8 p.p. YTD). The vacancy rate for the first half of the year is in line with pre-war levels.

Gross absorption in the first half of the year amounted to about 109,000 sq m (+27% yoy), which is also one of the highest figures for the half-year since 2018. The main drivers of leasing activity were 3PL operators (companies providing logistics outsourcing services, 56%), as well as the wholesale and retail sectors (39%).

Key transactions in the first half of the year included the lease of 19,000 sqm in Chaiky Logistics Complex by Ekol Logistics and the lease of 17,500 sqm in Makarov Logistics Complex by a leading Ukrainian water wholesale and distribution company.

Companies' demand for large-format properties continues to grow. In particular, properties over 10,000 sq m accounted for 36% of total transactions and accounted for about two-thirds of total take-up, reflecting strong demand from 3PL operators and retailers. Mid-sized deals (5,001-10,000 sq m) accounted for 18% of total transaction volume in the first half of 2025.

Given the shortage, warehouse rents are also on the rise. Asking rents in UAH equivalent increased by 3% YTD in the lower price range and amounted to UAH 196-240 per sq m per month ($4.7-5.7).

Rental prices in the best quality warehouses remained stable at $5.3 per sq m per month (excluding VAT and OPEX), which is in line with the pre-war peak period of 2019-2021. Lease transactions continued to be concluded in local currency.

Cold warehouses are the most expensive on the market: rates here amounted to UAH 390-420 per sq m per month ($8.5-10.5), while effective rental rates remained stable at $9.1 per sq m per month (excluding VAT and OPEX).