Russia`s Warehouse Real Estate in 2025

In Russia, the BTS (built-to-suit) warehouse segment, which is built for a specific customer, continues to dominate speculative warehouses. Experts attribute this to high interest rates and rising construction costs, which makes the BTS format more attractive to developers.

According to Ricci and Orientir, significant speculative space is expected to be commissioned in 2025 — about 1.3 million square meters, which is comparable to BTS facilities. For comparison, in 2023 and 2024, the volumes of BTS warehouse commissioning were significantly lower (410 thousand square meters and 600 thousand square meters, respectively).

According to NF Group data, average rental rates for BTS warehouses have almost doubled, reaching 11.5 thousand rubles per square meter per year. The main tenants of such facilities are online retailers, grocery chains, pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies that require specialized solutions, such as non-standard equipment or increased capacity. BTS warehouses are usually leased for a long term (from 10 years) with a possible link to the rental rate of the Central Bank. Despite the advantages, the BTS format carries risks: if the deal with the tenant falls through, the developer may be left with a highly specialized facility equipped to meet the requirements of a specific customer, and which is difficult to repurpose. At the same time, developers focusing on speculative warehouses face economic difficulties, such as rising costs and declining profitability. Experts note that interest in speculative construction can only be restored if the key rate is reduced to 10%. Thus, in the current economic conditions, BTS warehouses retain their leading positions, but their share may decrease if some projects are reoriented.