IN Brief:
- Berner Polska has leased nearly 6,500m² in Building H1 at 7R Hub Nowa Huta.
- Dedicated storage zones, BMS controls, and enhanced fire-safety measures will support its maintenance and chemical-product range.
- The logistics operation is scheduled to relocate from Skawina in Q4 2027.
Berner Polska will relocate its logistics operations to 7R Hub Nowa Huta in Kraków after signing a long-term lease for almost 6,500 square metres of warehouse space. The move is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027 and will transfer distribution from the company’s existing centre at Skawina into a purpose-designed facility closer to Kraków.
Berner supplies professional maintenance, repair, and care products to automotive, construction, and industrial customers. The wider group offers more than 100,000 products across 21 European countries, while its Polish operation has been established since 2000.
The new warehouse will occupy part of Building H1, which is planned to provide approximately 42,000 square metres when completed. Berner’s space will be divided into dedicated product-storage zones, reflecting the requirements of different goods rather than relying on one uniform warehouse layout.
That is particularly important for the company’s chemical-product range. Maintenance products can include aerosols, lubricants, cleaners, adhesives, and other materials that carry specific requirements around fire load, segregation, ventilation, storage configuration, and emergency planning.
Cushman & Wakefield supported the location-selection process and worked with Berner on the technical specification and functional layout. Those requirements have been incorporated into the building design, including measures intended to meet stricter fire-safety standards associated with storing larger quantities of the company’s products.
The warehouse will also use a building management system to monitor utilities and control technical systems across the occupied space. BMS data can give warehouse operators better visibility over energy use, heating, ventilation, and other services, particularly where different storage zones have different environmental or operating requirements.
Berner has linked the relocation to a wider objective of shortening delivery times and improving product availability. Moving closer to Kraków places inventory nearer a major customer and labour market while retaining access to National Road 79 and the planned S7 expressway connection.
Location matters for maintenance-product distribution because customer demand is not always predictable. An industrial breakdown, workshop repair, or construction requirement can create an urgent order that is difficult to forecast several weeks in advance. Inventory close to the market can reduce response time where the warehouse and transport operation are capable of processing that order quickly.
Proximity alone does not guarantee service, however. A larger or better-located facility still needs accurate stock records, disciplined replenishment, suitable picking processes, and transport capacity. A product held ten kilometres closer to the customer adds little value if it cannot be found or dispatched when required.
The move therefore combines property and operating design. Dedicated product zones should make storage conditions and picking more manageable, while the BMS provides visibility over the building itself. Berner also plans to use modern warehouse and IT systems to support the operation.
7R Hub Nowa Huta is considerably larger than the individual lease. The full development is planned at approximately 230,000 square metres within the Ruszcza Logistics and Industrial Centre, part of the wider Kraków – Nowa Huta of the Future project.
The developer intends the site to support logistics, technology, and manufacturing users, with infrastructure designed to accommodate automation as the complex grows. Internal traffic routes and clearly defined operating zones are important at that scale because congestion can occur inside a logistics park just as easily as on the public road network.
The project also includes photovoltaic generation, heat-recovery ventilation, air-source heat pumps, energy storage, and wider environmental measures. It is targeting BREEAM Excellent certification, with the first phase scheduled for completion during the second quarter of 2027.
For Berner, the most difficult work begins after the building itself is delivered. Relocating a live distribution centre requires stock, IT systems, warehouse locations, transport routes, and customer-order processes to move without creating a prolonged service interruption.
A product range exceeding 100,000 items makes that cutover particularly sensitive. Inventory records need to remain accurate while products are transferred between buildings, and replenishment cannot simply stop while the new facility is populated. Some stock may need to operate across both locations during the transition.
System integration will be equally important. Warehouse locations, picking rules, customer data, transport interfaces, and availability records all need to point to the correct physical stock as the operation moves. A technically sophisticated building can still produce poor service if the migration of data and inventory is not synchronised.
The timetable provides several months between the planned completion of the first development phase and Berner’s Q4 2027 relocation, allowing time for fit-out, testing, safety validation, and migration preparation. That period should be used to prove the operating processes rather than merely finish the building.
The lease is therefore more than a property transaction. Berner is changing where inventory sits, how specialist products are stored, how building systems are monitored, and how its Polish distribution operation connects with customers. The warehouse specification is already detailed; the real test will come when more than 100,000 product lines and an established customer network have to move into it without customers noticing the disruption.
