According to the latest report Newmark Polska, leasing activity on the Warsaw office market remained moderate between January and the end of March 2025. It was the strongest first quarter of recorded office take-up since 2022. The highest leasing activity in Q1 2025 was recorded in central locations. Office construction remained constrained compared with the record under construction volumes in 2017-2019, with no new office projects breaking ground in the first quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, office availability continued its gradual downward trajectory, especially in buildings completed after 2019, where vacancy rates remained below 3.5%.
Despite new office space coming on stream, Warsaw’s total office stock has remained largely static at approximately 6.3 million sqm for several quarters. During the first quarter of 2025, it even contracted slightly, falling by 0.3% compared with the end of December 2024.
“Older and inefficient office stock is gradually being taken off the market for refurbishment or repurposing, for example, into housing. In the three months to March 2025, this occurred with two office buildings totalling 32,400 sqm. Since early 2020, more than 380,000 sqm of office space has been taken off the Warsaw market, with almost 45,000 sqm of this total reintroduced as refurbished stock,” says Karol Wyka, Executive Board Director, Head of Office Department, Newmark Polska.
Between January and the end of March 2025, only 5,600 sqm of new office space was delivered through a single building completed for CD Projekt’s owner-occupancy.
Development activity remained relatively subdued for another consecutive quarter, with almost 240,000 sqm of office space under construction at the end of March 2025 – a volume comparable to that recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024. Nearly 60,000 sqm of this total was in office buildings undergoing refurbishment. While no new office projects broke ground between January and March 2025, developers have ready-to-launch projects and have already secured land for future office construction.
“Just over 130,000 sqm is expected to be added to Warsaw’s office stock by the end of 2025; of this total, nearly 65% is projected to come on stream in the second quarter of the year. Over 95% of this year’s total supply is set to be delivered in central locations. The largest office projects slated for completion in the next three quarters include The Bridge (47,000 sqm), Office House (31,100 sqm) and the refurbishment of V Tower (30,750 sqm),” adds Karol Wyka.
Total office take-up in the first three months of 2025 reached nearly 160,500 sqm, up by over 16% year-on-year but down by more than 34% from the fourth quarter of 2024.
Warsaw’s central locations led the way for leasing activity in the first quarter of 2025, with nearly 100,950 sqm transacted, making up close to 63% of all deals. Non-central office zones saw a total of 59,550 sqm leased. The strongest leasing activity in the first quarter of 2025 was recorded in the Central Business District (52,150 sqm transacted), the Centre (48,800 sqm, of which 64% was in the City Centre West) and Służewiec (27,100 sqm).
Each of the three largest transactions during the surveyed period was for less than 10,000 sqm. The average lease size in the first quarter of 2025 was 990 sqm, and was similar to the 2024 annual average but over 11% higher than the 880 sqm average recorded in the three months to March 2024.
New leases accounted for the largest share of office take-up at 44%, with the remaining 56% spread across renegotiations and renewals (25%), owner-occupier transactions (17%), expansions (9%) and pre-lets (5%). The most active tenants on the Warsaw office market in the past quarter were companies from such sectors as professional services (13.1%), financial services (10.4%) and manufacturing (9.9%).
Warsaw’s vacancy rate has remained above 10% since early 2021, reaching 10.5% at the end of March 2025, down marginally by 0.1 pp from the fourth quarter of 2024 and by 0.5 pp year-on-year. This equated to nearly 657,700 sqm of unoccupied office space. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, office vacancy rates stood at 7.4% in the city centre and at 13.0% in non-central locations. The vacancy rate in central zones continued the downward trend that began in early 2024.
At the end of the first quarter of 2025, prime monthly office rents were in the range of €22-27 per sqm in the city centre and €16-18 per sqm in non-central locations.
“Looking ahead, rental rates are generally expected to remain flat over the coming quarters. Meanwhile, office buildings featuring smart technological and ESG-compliant solutions continue to attract strong occupier interest, with landlords displaying reduced flexibility in lease negotiations,” says Agnieszka Giermakowska, Research & Advisory Director, ESG Lead, Newmark Polska.
