According to “Office Occupier: Office Market in Warsaw”, a report published by real estate advisory firm Cresa Poland, office take-up hit 109,300 sqm in Q1 2021, down by 20% on the same period a year earlier. New leases accounted for 66%, while regears and expansions made up 32% and 2% of all deals, respectively. Pre-lets made up approx. 10% of new lease agreements.
Warsaw’s office stock exceeded 6.04 million sqm at the end of the first quarter, representing an 8.1% increase year-on-year.
New office supply climbed to 167,100 sqm in the three months to March, posting a threefold increase compared to the same period in 2020. Interestingly enough, this figure accounts for over 50% of 2020’s total supply. Office completions in the first quarter included Karimpol’s Skyliner (48,500 sqm), Skanska’s Generation Park Y (44,200 sqm), HB Reavis’ Forest Kampus (19,700 sqm), Echo Investment’s Moje Miejsce B2 (15,200 sqm), White Star’s X20 (13,700 sqm), Liebrecht & wooD’s Koneser M and N (10,300 sqm and 7,400 sqm, respectively), and a part of Baletowa Business Park leased by Netia (8,000 sqm).
Two large office completions in the first quarter of 2021 brought the total office stock of the Centre West zone to more than 1 million sqm.
Occupiers leased 109,300 sqm of office space in the first three months of 2021, down by 20% on the same period a year earlier. New leases accounted for 66%, while regears and expansions made up 32% and 2% of all deals, respectively.
The largest lease in Q1 2021 was the pre-let agreement signed in Fabryka PZO by Warsaw Transport Authority (9,500 sqm). It was followed by a renegotiation by Credit Suisse in Atrium 2 (7,500 sqm) and a renegotiation by Royal Bank of Scotland in Wiśniowy Business Park E (5,700 sqm).
The strong supply and a higher base effect pushed the capital’s vacancy rate up to 11.4% at the end of the first quarter of 2021, which represents an increase of 3.9 pp year-on-year and of 1.5 pp on the previous quarter.
“Absorption hit almost 14,700 sqm in the first quarter of 2021, down by 38% on the same period in 2020. This result was still relatively low given high supply levels and a substantial growth in vacancies,” says Iga Kraśniewska, Research Manager at Cresa Poland.
Asking rents stand at EUR 10,0-15,0 sqm/month in Służewiec, EUR 12,0-15,0 in Jerozolimskie Avenue, EUR 14,0-24,0 in City Centre West and at EUR 15,0-24,0 sqm/month in the Central Business District.
