The Warsaw office market in 2018 saw 860,000 square meters (9.3 million square feet) of office space leased, with the vacancy rate dropping 8.7 percent, and new supply totaling 230,000 square meters (2.5 million square feet), according to JLL. Currently, the total under-construction volume stands at 720,000 square meters (7.8 million square feet).
The most important trend of last year was the rapid development of flexible space operators. The highest activity was recorded by WeWork and IWG, which accounted for 52 percent of total market demand.
“Last year, flexible space operators leased an astonishing 112,000 square meters (1.2 million square feet), accounting for 13 percent of total demand in Warsaw,” said Anna Młyniec, head of office and agency and tenant presentation, JLL. “What makes this sector stand out from the rest of the entire Polish market is the unique mix of clients they attract: freelancers, start-ups, small companies and large corporations. This concept brings a new way of working as well as interesting design ideas to the Warsaw office market, which also has a positive knock-on effect on more traditional office solutions.”
Among the most notable transactions were a renewal and expansion by Deloitte for more than 22,000 square meters (237,000 square feet), a new deal made by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority for almost 15,000 square meters (161,000 square feet) in Piekna 2.0., and approximately 14,000 square meters (150,000 square feet) pre-let by WeWork in Mennica Legacy.
Looking closely at the distribution of demand for office space in Warsaw’s submarkets, the City Centre leads the way, with 240,000 square meters (2.6 million square feet) transacted last year, followed by Mokotów, with 220,000 square meters (2.4 million square feet) leased. Third place was claimed by the CBD, where deals for a total of 162,000 square meters (1.7 million square feet) were signed.
