Office market in Poland - III Q 2015

26 November 2015

Office market in Poland saw record results. In the first three quarters of the year lease agreements for almost 1.1 million square meters of office space were signed across the country.  Most of the offices were leased in Warsaw. From the beginning of the year until the end of September a similar amount of office space was leased as in the entire 2014 on the capital market. As a result the vacancy rate has decreased.

The impressively strong demand for office space goes hand in hand with a growing supply of modern offices. Up to 1.3 million square meters of new offices is under construction in Poland. As a result, the investors are forced to cope on an increasingly competitive market and offer a more comprehensive package of incentives to optimize the process of acquiring tenants.

Regional markets

At the regional office markets in Poland outside of Warsaw, the largest tenant are the companies from the modern business services sector (BPO/SSC). Prospects for the development of this industry are very optimistic. It will certainly translate into a high demand for office space from the sector companies in the upcoming years. Many developers provide office facilities under the pre-let contract or aiming at BPO/SSC centers.

The scale of demand for offices reported by the outsourcing companies are best illustrated by the number of space leased by them in the various cities. In the first three quarters of this year, in Wrocław, Gdańsk and Łódź, most offices were rented by the companies from the wide range of BPO/SSC sector. Currently, one-fifth of the occupied office space in the country belongs to the industry, showing broad prospects for the upcoming period.

Warsaw

Developers building on the Warsaw market are still very active. This year the supply in Warsaw is likely to increase by over 300 thousand square meters, and everything indicates that in 2016 the growth of supply will be even greater. The buildings with a clearly outlined strategy, an idea to carry out the project and commercialization or to increase profitability in case of the older buildings, are the ones with the greatest chances of finding tenants

More than 600 thousand square meters of office space is  now being built in Warsaw. The completion of the investments will have an impact on the lease market. In the subsequent years, rental rates in the city may be adjusted, and the vacancy rate may increase. Such a scenario does not have to, however, be reflected in practice, because among Polish and foreign companies there is a growing interest in Warsaw as a place to locate a business as well as  to increase the area of the existing offices.

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