Poznań is constantly evolving. This is mirrored by the excellent results recorded on the city’s office market. New thriving companies are establishing operations in Poznań while firms already present in the city are expanding their business. All of these factors are boosting demand in Poznań for modern office space, according to JLL.

The newest company in the structure of AG Capital, Park Lane Developments is planning the construction of a new office project nearby Paradise Center and Vitosha metro station in Sofia, Bulgaria. The building will have 24,000 sqm of leasable office space. The floors alignment in the new building will be 3,000 sqm and the project is expected to be finished at the end of 2020. The investment is worth €30 million.

HubHub, the co-working concept from international real estate developer HB Reavis, has announced the opening its first space in Hungary by the end of this year. The debuting brand will occupy a total area of 2,400 sqm at the well-known downtown hub, Király street. The new office is not only about state-of-the-art space, but education, the pooling of talent and community building will also be strong pillars of its presence.

In Q1 2018, Warsaw’s vacancy rate fell to its lowest in five years while absorption amounted to 45,000 sqm, down by nearly 30% on the average observed over the last five years, according to Cresa.

Cushman & Wakefield has published a summary of the first quarter of 2018 on Poland’s regional office markets. Following the record-breaking performance in 2017, the total office stock of regional cities rose by 3% q/q by the end of Q1 2018 to 4.5 million sqm. The average vacancy rate for the regional markets was down 0.6 p.p. at 9.3%. The largest concentration of development activity is in Wrocław and Krakow.

LC Corp Group has chosen Knight Frank to be the property manager of Retro Office House in Wrocław. Completed at the end of March, the office building offers a leasable area of 20,700 sqm and has already been rented out almost in its entirety.

The key catalyst behind the further growth of Poland’s regional office markets is the BSS sector, which is increasingly expanding into smaller cities as tenants continue looking for attractive alternatives outside Warsaw. This is benefiting such locations as Krakow, Wrocław and Tricity and all the regional markets are seeing multiple modern office projects underway in response to the growing occupier demand.

Siemens CR and CPI PG announced that they signed an agreement to extend the lease and complete a total renovation of City West office buildings in Prague - Stodůlky, where Siemens CR headquarters have been located since 2010. The contract has been extended until 2027 and will undergo extensive modernisation of offices, common areas, parking spaces and specific outdoor areas. The common goal is to improve and beautify the employee work environment, reflecting Siemens' development needs within its headquarters in the Czech Republic.

On May 29th, 2018, Budapest’s Ericsson House was officially handed over. This new building, developed by Wing, features not only offices but also one of the Swedish company’s largest European Research & Development centres. The 24,000 sqm property, built in the first phase of the development project of the Hungarian Nobel-Prize Winners’ R&D Park, satisfies both the needs of today and tomorrow due to its cutting-edge technology and execution. As shown by its LEED Gold certification it upholds the highest standards of environmental consciousness. The new HQ will house 1800 workers. Now, with the handover of the Ericsson House, the development of the adjacent site may commence as the second phase of the project.

Nordea, Infosys, Fujitsu and Harman opened offices in Łódź a long time ago. Other firms are now following in their footsteps. Commerz Systems recently announced its entry into the Łódź market, says Marta Pyziak, Head of the Łódź Office of Cresa Poland.