POLAND Office demand in the regions still holding up - Colliers
Office & mixed-use developmentThe largest regional office markets are currently Kraków (1,483,300 sqm), Wrocław (1,186,100 sqm) and the TriCity (868,400 sqm).
In H1 2020, over 175,600 sqm of office space was completed – 27 pct down on H1 2019, with the largest volume transacted in Kraków (69,100 sqm), Katowice (31,100 sqm) and the TriCity (29,900 sqm).
Contrary to appearances, the decrease in the amount of sqm completed in the first half of this year is not the result of the suspension of construction work after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. After some short interruptions on some construction sites, construction work has resumed and most developers do not expect significant delays in completions.
Olga Drela, a senior analyst in the research and consultancy services department at Colliers International
The total volume of leasing activity in H1 2020 amounted to 333,000 sqm – 9 pct more than in the same period last year. However, in Q2 almost 50 pct less office space was leased than in Q1. The largest volume of space leased in H1 was in Kraków (114,700 sqm).
New deals accounted for most of the take-up in H1 – 54 pct of the total (including pre-leases and owner-occupier deals). Renewals of current lease agreements made up 32 pct and expansions 14 pct. However, in Q2 renewals had the largest share – 59 pct, whereas new contracts and expansions accounted for 28 pct and 13 pct, respectively. The demand was clearly dominated by IT sector companies.
The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in increased uncertainty and caution among many companies, which has translated into longer decision-making processes in many fields, including office space leasing. Tenants who are just finishing their lease agreements have been forced to take certain steps, so many transactions are still ongoing. As we expected, the number of renegotiations increased significantly in the second quarter and this trend will certainly continue. There are also more and more sub-leasing offers on the market – currently there is app. 70,000 sqm of sublease space available on the largest regional markets and this number is constantly growing.
Paweł Skałba, a senior partner and director of the office agency at Colliers International
The largest transactions in H1 2020 included the renewal of ABB’s contract in the Axis office building in Kraków (20,000 sqm), Fujitsu Technology Solutions’ pre-lease transaction in the Fuzja in Łódź (16,300 sqm) and a confidential transaction in Tertium Business Park II in Kraków (14,500 sqm).
At the end of Q2 there was almost 571,600 sqm of unoccupied space in the eight cities – a vacancy rate of 10.2 pct (a 0.7 pp q-o-q increase). The highest vacancy was recorded in Poznań (14.5 pct), while the lowest was in the TriCity and Katowice (6.1 pct).
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