Poland Demand rising for office space in Warsaw

After a relatively slow start to the year, demand for office space picked up sharply in the second quarter, delivering one of the strongest quarterly results seen in recent years. At the same time, virtually no new office space came onto the market between April and June, while older, less efficient buildings continued to be withdrawn from use. As a result, the amount of available office space fell, and vacancy rates continued to decline.

By the end of June 2026, Warsaw’s total stock of modern office space stood at just under 6.24 mln sqm, down by less than 1.5 pct compared with a year earlier. During the first six months of the year, developers completed a total of 45,200 sqm of new office space, with almost 95 pct of that delivered in the first quarter. No new office buildings were completed in the second quarter. The only addition to the market was 2,350 sqm in the refurbished Przemysłowa 26 building, which returned to use following redevelopment. At the same time, the city’s overall office stock shrank by more than 43,600 sqm over the quarter, largely because older buildings continued to be taken off the market.

Although development activity has shown some signs of improvement in recent months, it remains at a very low level. At the end of June 2026, around 124,600 sqm of office space was under construction, with more than 115,900 sqm (93 pct) located in central Warsaw.

Most of the city’s new office developments are concentrated in the City Centre, particularly around Rondo Daszyńskiego in the West Centre district. While the volume of space under construction increased by more than 8 pct compared with the end of March, the pipeline remains well below the levels seen in previous years.

Only around 3,900 sqm of office space is due to be completed by the end of December. That means less than 50,000 sqm of new supply will come onto the Warsaw market in the whole of 2026 – the lowest annual figure since records began. Supply is expected to remain tight in 2027 as well, with completions likely to exceed 60,000 sqm only slightly.
Karol Wyka, managing director of the office department at Newmark Polska.

Occupier demand was much stronger in the first half of the year. Between January and June, tenants signed leases covering almost 416,600 sqm of office space, up 38.4 pct on the same period in 2025.

The recovery was especially pronounced in the second quarter, when leasing activity reached nearly 282,800 sqm – more than double the first-quarter total and the strongest second-quarter result ever recorded on the Warsaw office market.

Central locations proved the most popular, accounting for almost 60 pct of total take-up (247,700 sqm), while office space leased outside the city centre totalled 168,900 sqm.

Five leasing deals exceeding 10,000 sqm were completed during the first half of 2026, all of them in the second quarter. Together they accounted for more than 91,300 sqm, representing almost 22 pct of all office take-up during the six-month period.

Four of the five largest transactions were signed in central locations, underlining the continued appeal of modern, well-connected office buildings in the city centre for major occupiers. With large office units becoming increasingly scarce in central Warsaw, rents are likely to come under further upward pressure in the coming quarters.
Magdalena Zagórska, director of the office space department at Newmark Polska

Lease renewals and renegotiations continued to dominate market activity, accounting for 48 pct of total take-up in the first half of the year. New leases made up a further 42.8 pct, while expansions represented 5.4 pct. Pre-lets accounted for 3.5 pct of transactions, with lease-to-own agreements making up just 0.3 pct.

By the end of June 2026, Warsaw’s office vacancy rate had fallen to 8.5 pct, down by around one percentage point compared with the previous quarter and 2.3 percentage points year on year. In practical terms, businesses looking for new office space had less than 529,500 sqm available – the lowest level of availability in the capital since the second quarter of 2020.

At the end of the second quarter, prime office rents ranged from EUR 22 to EUR 28 per sqm per month in central Warsaw and from EUR 16 to EUR 18 per sqm per month in non-central locations.

The balance of power in the market is now clearly shifting in landlords' favour. With office availability continuing to tighten, new supply remaining extremely limited, and occupier activity picking up strongly in the second quarter, owners of prime office buildings – particularly in central locations – are in an increasingly strong negotiating position. As a result, prime rents are likely to remain under upward pressure over the coming quarters, especially for modern office buildings offering larger floorplates, high technical specifications, and advanced energy-efficient and ESG features. By contrast, older office buildings, particularly those outside the city centre, will need to be refurbished, repositioned or repurposed if they are to remain competitive.
Agnieszka Giermakowska, director of market research and advisory and ESG Lead at Newmark Polska