OFFICE MARKET - BETWEEN PANDEMICS AND WAR It’s been a good, strong start to 2022 in Poland’s office market, which offers hope that a longawaited boom in demand is coming after a market slump. Companies have adapted to the new working conditions, and due to the easing of restrictions related to the covid-19 pandemic, they have launched a campaign to encourage employees back into offices. On the other hand, Warsaw and the eight largest regional markets, i.e., Kraków, Wrocław, Tricity, Katowice, Lódź, Poznan, Szczecin, and Lublin, may face a slowdown in new supply in the coming months.
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XI IMMO looks at the current trends after Q1 2022 in the office market and analyses what will influence its development in the following months of the year. At the end of March, office developers in Poland delivered 22 projects with a total area of 336,900 sqm, which increased the total market resources to over 12.5 m sqm. Most projects - 16 - were delivered in regional cities, among which noteworthy were KTW II (39,900 sqm, TDJ Estate) and Global Office Park A1 and A2 (27,300 sqm and 29,900 sqm, Cavatina) in Katowice and the office building Midpoint71 (36,200 sqm, Echo Investment) in Wrocław. In Warsaw, at the same time, occupancy permits were granted to the Forest Tower (51,500 sqm, HB Reavis) and another stage of the LIXA complex, building C (19,400 sqm, Yareal). In terms of total office stock, Warsaw (approx. 6.23 m
Bartosz Oleksak, Senior Negotiator, Office Agency, AXI IMMO.
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Summer 2022
sqm) is traditionally ahead of the eight regional office markets, of which Kraków remains the leader (1.63 m sqm), followed by Wrocław (1.28m sqm) and Tricity (992,200 sqm). In terms of new supply at the end of Q1 2022, the top three were Katowice (approx. 116,300 sqm), ahead of Warsaw (93,400 sqm), and Wrocław (36,200 sqm). At the same time, the vacancy rate in the Polish office market indicated about 13.8% of the total stock, which sets availability at the level of about 1.73 m sqm. In Warsaw alone, it amounts to approx. 759,700 sqm (12.2%; -0.5 pp. quarter-on-quarter), while in the regions 970,100 sqm (15.5%; +1.4 pp. q/q). Tenants interested in new offices outside the capital should consider cities such as Kraków (approx. 255,000 sqm), Wrocław (approx. 200,000 sqm), or Tricity (approx. 140,000 sqm), where there was relatively most available space off the shelf. “The office market in Poland has had to apply the handbrake hard in the last two years. As a result, in the perspective of the coming months, we will observe the so-called supply gap, which is a consequence of the pandemic, lower demand translating into reduced developer activity and in-
AT THE END OF MARCH, OFFICE DEVELOPERS IN POLAND DELIVERED 22 PROJECTS WITH A TOTAL AREA OF 336,900 SQM, WHICH INCREASED THE TOTAL MARKET RESOURCES TO OVER 12.5 M SQM The Warsaw Voice
