What changes between residential and commercial aerial
A residential drone package works on a 30-second buyer-attention horizon on Otodom. A CRE package works on the horizon of an investment committee at a fund: 15-20 people in London, Frankfurt or Singapore watch a 7-minute teaser once and make a go/no-go call on an asset worth 400 million PLN. The factual standard required in each frame is in a different league.
Four things change concretely. First, footprint instead of facade: the investor cares about a full plot measurement with KW (land and mortgage register) boundaries and distances to neighbouring parcels, not a beautiful front elevation. Second, activity instead of light: golden hour drops to second place, and what matters is a peak-hours shot with fleet visible (Mercedes Actros, Volvo FH, DAF XF), dock positions and yard utilization. Third, ESG overlay instead of 9:16 vertical: a 40,000 sq m roof with rooftop PV potential in kWp is now part of the standard package for funds under an EU Taxonomy mandate. Fourth, NDA instead of publication: 80 percent of CRE material goes out under confidentiality, not onto social media.
Use cases: leasing, IM, due diligence, valuation, dilapidation
- Leasing brochure for a tenant. A 3PL operator is hunting for a 25,000 sq m warehouse. Cushman & Wakefield Industrial circulates 12 properties; the one with a drone film gets a viewing in the top three, the rest wait 3-4 weeks for the short-list. Viewing → LOI conversion rises from a typical 8-12 percent to 18-24 percent.
- Investor Memorandum (IM) for a transaction. JLL Capital Markets is closing the sale-leaseback of Panattoni Park Pruszków at 280 million PLN. The 5-7 minute IM film lands in the data room for 8-12 qualified investors. It includes the aerial walk-around, dock activity, road connectivity to A2/S8 and the surrounding tenant mix.
- Buy-side due diligence. Before exclusivity, the investor commissions an independent aerial survey: actual footprint versus KW, roof condition, visible damage, neighbouring industrial activity (contamination risk). A minimum of two flyovers - sunny and overcast - to assess roof material reflectivity.
- Asset valuation pitch. A 25 bps yield move on a Class A Wola office is ±30 million PLN of capital value. Knight Frank Valuation uses aerial to defend comparables in the report: positioning the asset against Warsaw Spire, Warsaw Unit, Skyliner and Varso in one plan.
- Building dilapidation report. Before the end of a 10-year lease with an anchor tenant (Amazon, DHL, Raben), the asset manager commissions a thermal + RGB roof and facade survey. The documentation pushes the tenant onto the actual wear-and-tear cost; typical savings of 400,000 - 1.8 million PLN per hall.
Tiered packages by asset type
| Asset | Size / class | Package | Price 2026 PLN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small-box warehouse | < 10,000 sq m | Aerial photo 12 frames + 60-sec film + 1 site plan | 3,500 - 5,500 |
| Mid-box warehouse | 10,000 - 50,000 sq m | Aerial 20 frames + 90-sec film + dock activity + road overlay | 5,500 - 8,500 |
| Logistics park | > 50,000 sq m | Multi-hall aerial + 4-7 min IM + ESG roof report + fleet timelapse | 8,500 - 15,000 |
| Class A office | Wola, Mokotów | Aerial day + night + CBD context + 3-min teaser | 4,500 - 8,500 |
| CBD landmark + FPV | Mennica, Warsaw Spire, Varso | Aerial + FPV cinewhoop interior + 5-min film | 12,000 - 22,000 |
| Retail park / mall | Westfield Mokotów, Złote Tarasy | Aerial + traffic patterns + tenant mix overlay | 6,500 - 11,000 |
Markets: where a Warsaw drone crew works
- Mazowieckie - the core market. Warehouses in Błonie (Panattoni Park Błonie I-VI, Prologis Park Warsaw), Sochaczew (Panattoni Park Sochaczew), Pruszków (Hillwood Pruszków), Mszczonów (Mountpark). CBD offices - Wola (Warsaw Unit, Skyliner, Generation Park, .KTW Warsaw Tower), Mokotów (Empark, Mokotów Nova).
- Łódź corridor. Stryków (Panattoni A2 Stryków at 350,000 sq m, one of the largest in Central Europe), Łódź Górna (Prologis Park Łódź), Piotrków Trybunalski. Drive from Warsaw is 90-120 minutes; one day covers 3-4 sites.
- Wrocław. Magnice (Panattoni Wrocław South), Bielany Wrocławskie (Prologis Park Wrocław III/V), CTPark Wrocław. Offices Sky Tower, Nowy Targ, Centrum Południe. For a larger package we travel for 2 days with an overnight stay.
- Tricity. Pruszcz Gdański (7R, Panattoni Park Gdańsk), Kowale, Tczew. Olivia Centre in Gdańsk, Heweliusza offices. Aerial over the Gdynia/Gdańsk port zone requires coordination with PAŻP and the Border Guard.
- Poznań and Silesia. Robakowo, Skawina, Gliwice, Bielsko. Often combined with a Wrocław mission into a 3-day tour covering 5-7 sites for a single asset manager.
Timeline from brief to data room
- Day 0: brief, NDA, list of sites, KW extracts and base maps. We check flight zones (Warsaw CTR, military airfields at Modlin, Mińsk Mazowiecki).
- Day 1-3: coordination with PAŻP via DroneRadar/eDrone for controlled zones, GDPR for tenanted offices (notice posted at reception, window blur if required).
- Day 3-7: shoot. One site = 2-4 hours of air time, two weather windows (sunny + golden hour), optional night session for Class A offices.
- Day 7-12: post-production. Color grading on calibrated monitors, DCI 4K master + ProRes 422 HQ + H.264 web, optionally 360° tiles for Matterport.
- Day 12-14: delivery to data room (Datasite, Intralinks, Drooms). GDPR-compliant versions delivered separately from the master. The asset manager also receives preview folders for 2-3 short-listed investors.
What a typical IM film contains (5-7 minutes)
- 0:00-0:30: macro context. An aerial pull-back from 400 m showing the location relative to A2/S8/S7, Chopin Airport or Warsaw Modlin, and voivodeship boundaries. This is the first slide for an investor in Tokyo or Sydney.
- 0:30-1:30: footprint and surroundings. Nadir orthomosaic with KW boundaries overlaid, road access, neighbouring properties (who the neighbour is - Panattoni or a local developer - tells the story of park quality).
- 1:30-3:00: dock activity timelapse. 4-6 hours compressed into 90 seconds. Shows TIR rotation, gate vacancy, peak utilization. For the investor, this is cash-flow evidence.
- 3:00-4:30: tenant facilities. Office part, parking, EV chargers, rooftop photovoltaic potential overlay (kWp and CAPEX).
- 4:30-6:00: financial overlay. Table: NOI, WAULT, vacancy, top 3 tenants, lease expiry schedule. Here aerial sits as a background for static graphics.
- 6:00-7:00: closing. Sunset aerial + asset manager logo + contact for the JLL/CBRE/Cushman/Colliers responsible person.
Two years ago aerial in an IM was nice-to-have. In 2026, on a logistics park above 50,000 metres, we simply cannot close a transaction without a dedicated aerial package - the LP investor will not read the IM without video. The ESG overlay with PV potential has become the second must-have. Without it the short-list of funds drops from twelve to three.
What we do not do and when to say so to the client directly
- We do not fly without NSTS and OC insurance with a minimum 1 million EUR per event sum. A fund asset manager will not sign a contract with an operator who lacks these documents.
- We do not fly inside Warsaw-Chopin CTR without PAŻP coordination (FlightPlanID email at least 24 hours before the mission). Attempts to fly in the grey zone next to Warsaw Spire end with a municipal police intervention and a lost client.
- We do not publish CRE material in our portfolio without the owner's written consent. Industry standard - watermarked proof version, master delivered only to the data room.
- We do not fake the value of an IM with 5 minutes of stock content. If the client only needs 12 aerial frames without post-production, we say so directly and price lower instead of bolting on unnecessary deliverables.
Frequently asked questions
- Can we shoot an office building that is already tenanted (GDPR)?
- Yes, provided there is a written brief from the asset manager, notice posted at reception at least 24 hours before the mission, and open-space windows blurred in post. Under GDPR Art. 6(1)(f), the asset manager's legitimate interest (IM or leasing brochure preparation) outweighs the tenant's interest provided data minimisation is applied. The standard is to fly between 8:00-10:00 or after 19:00, when most windows are darkened, which is a loyal arrangement for tenants.
- How fast can you turn around an IM film for a closing?
- The minimum realistic timeline is 7 business days from brief to master in the data room: 2 days of PAŻP/GDPR coordination, 1 day shoot, 3 days post, 1 day for review and corrections. Under pressure-closing with a 96-hour deadline we run a rush at +60-80 percent over base price: two crews on site, 24/7 post, WhatsApp reviews with the asset manager. That covers 90 percent of urgent transactions; faster is physically impossible while preserving 4K master quality.
- Do you fly over the A2/S8 motorway corridors?
- Yes, with PAŻP coordination under the Specific category (NSTS-05 or SORA-based) and GDDKiA notification. Above an active motorway lane the altitude must be at least 30 m AGL and a ground observer on the opposite side is mandatory. A typical mission over the A2 exit near Pruszków takes 45-90 minutes with a 30-minute active-flight window. Flying without PAŻP coordination is illegal and punishable by up to 3,000 PLN plus equipment confiscation.
- What resolution do you deliver for Knight Frank/Savills valuation work?
- Minimum 4K (3840×2160) for video and 24 Mpx RAW for orthomosaic frames. The Savills valuation report requires GSD ≤ 3 cm/px on nadir mapping, which we achieve from 60-80 m using 1-inch sensor cameras (DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise, Autel EVO Max 4T). Knight Frank Residential Valuation also accepts 8K equirectangular 360° aerial panoramas as evidence on comparable selection.
- Do you sign an NDA before starting work?
- Yes, as standard. We have a mutual NDA template prepared with the lawyers at BSWW Legal and we sign it within the first hour of contact - electronically via Autenti or DocuSign. For funds under an EU/UK mandate we accept their template without negotiating clauses for project values up to 50,000 PLN. Material is stored on an encrypted server in Poland (we do not accept Hetzner Helsinki for CRE projects with Western capital) and deleted 90 days after delivery unless the client requests otherwise.
