Office boom goes on in Warsaw

According to a summary provided by JLL, 2016 will be a busy year for Warsaw's office market. In Q1 142,200 m² of office space was leased in the city, and 113,000 m² were delivered to the market. The second half of the year will also be an active period. Two office skyscrapers over 150 metres height will be delivered to market and total office stock is due to hit 5 million m². Around 57,000 m², of office space leased in Q1 came from deals secured in existing buildings, while 8,000 m² came from expansions. Jakub Sylwestrowicz, National Director, Head of Tenant Representation at JLL, explained how the Warsaw office market is "tenant-favourable" offering a wide range of options either in existing buildings or those under development: "This allows them to find optimum projects not only in terms of access to public transportation and amenities but, above all, in terms of space efficiency, flexibility and attractive commercial terms". Tenants show a growing interest in central locations, mainly motivated by easy access to public transport. 55,000 m² of total take-up was leased in the city center. Prime rates vary from central to non-central locations, which ranged between 21 Euro and 23.5 Euro/m²/month in the center and 11 and 18 Euro/m²/month elsewhere. Vacancy rate stands at 14.1 percent. The office construction industry in Poland picked up in 2015 and has continued to grow since, especially in Warsaw which in 2014 already turned out to be the fourth most active office development market in Europe. This exponential growth is due to the amount of companies outsourcing part of their business to Poland, along with higher investment in the country by international firms.