The Warsaw region is currently the largest data centre market in Poland. The capital is home to more than 50 server facilities and a key exchange point for internet traffic in the country. In 2023, Kowalski and his family generated an average of 236 GB of data via fixed Internet connections, while the share per SIM card oscillated at 132 GB of data per year. Most often, searching content is video, social networking, web browsing and gaming. How is the data centre market in Poland shaped, and what are its biggest challenges for the coming years? How crucial remains the further development and modernisation of the Polish energy sector? What direction is its transformation expected to take place, and how much GW of power could it bring? Axi Immo unveiled the second edition of its "Data Centres in Poland" report. 

Poland's industrial market remains steady and adapts its growth rate to the macroeconomic conditions in both the local and European markets. The gross take-up statistics, which stood at 870,000 sqm at the end of Q1 2024, demonstrated the restricted growth of businesses in the industrial and logistics sectors. Developers supplied about 850,000 sqm between January and March 2024, which prompted Axi Immo analysts to report a slight increase in vacancy rates to 8.2%. The industrial sector has more than 32.7 million sqm of total stock. Nonetheless, a further 2.3 million sqm are still being built.

After the very successful years of 2021 and 2022, known as the golden period of development of the industrial market in Poland, 2023 was a period of greater challenges due to a change in the macroeconomic situation. The main reasons were high inflation, which affected the purchasing power of consumers, persistently high-interest rates, and uncertainty over the eastern border. The market grew, but at a slower pace, especially in the first half of the year, to accelerate at the end of 2023. Development activity in January-December 2023 amounted to 3.7 million sqm (-16% y/y), and as a result, the sector's total stock rose to 31.7 million sqm (+13% y/y). Another 2.8 million sqm (-16% y/y) remains under construction, about half of which is not under signed lease. Gross take-up (which does not include short-term leases) amounted to 5.6 million sqm, and despite a lower result versus 2021-2022, it was significantly higher than in the pre-pandemic period, i.e., 2018-2019, says Axi Immo. 

In 2023, on Poland’s largest eight regional office markets, developers delivered 280,000 sqm (-31% y/y). It’s bringing the sector’s total stock to 6.68 million sqm (+4% y/y). The new supply slightly increased the vacancy rate, stabilizing around 17.5% (+2.2 pp. y/y) at the end of December 2023. The largest concentration of tenant activity was observed in the largest regional office markets, i.e., Kraków, Wrocław, and the Tricity (about 70% of gross demand), where, in total, companies leased about 520,000 sqm out of 750,000 sqm of all signed contracts in 2023, says Axi Immo.

As of the end of 2023, Warsaw remains the leader in Poland’s office market, but the 61,000 sqm (-74% y/y) completed in the last 12 months was one of the lowest results in its history, says Axi Immo. The developer’s lower activity period seems to be over, as by 2026, some 150,000 sqm of new supply should be delivered each year. After a very good 2022, 2023 was not much worse. Between January and December 2023, tenants signed contracts for about 750,000 sqm, meaning the total volume of transactions was slightly 13% lower than the year before. Continued low supply in 2023 and stabilizing demand reduced the vacancy to 647,000 sqm (-11% y/y).

Poland’s industrial sector slowed in 2023, but the market hopes to rebound in 2024. After the peak of take-up and supply in the so-called COVID period falling in 2020-2022, the logistics and manufacturing market has returned in many values to those observed in 2018-2019, says Axi Immo. 

Axi Immo has presented six key trends on the Polish office market with a presentation of estimates for the sector at the end of 2023.

After nearly 16 years, the site of the unsuccessful “Żubr” housing estate project in Podłęże near Kraków is back in use and changing its purpose. The new plan for the site is an international logistics service centre. MCG EastBridge, a new company within the Maszoński Logistic Group, has already begun operations in the region, Axi Immo reports.

The Polish industrial and logistics market is transitional between economic shifts. Demand for warehouse space declined primarily in the first half of 2023, with a resurgence in Q3, resulting in aggregate demand for the first three quarters of this year of 3.75 million sqm (-25% y/y, Q1-Q3 2022). Higher investment financing costs are affecting the volume of space under construction, with developers developing 2.5 million sqm at the end of September 2023 (-36% y/y). It also impacts the volume of space delivered, which amounted to 3.12 million sqm from January to the end of September (-13% y/y Q1-Q3 2022), says Axi Immo. 

From January to the end of September 2023, the total demand for modern office space in Warsaw amounted to nearly 0.5 million sqm. Tenants often choose two contract options, i.e., they relocate to a new space or decide to renegotiate existing terms. The vacancy rate is decreasing, standing at 10.6% at the end of September 2023. On the supply side, developers delivered just over 20,000 sqm to the capital's office market in January-September 2023, indicating a supply gap period in Warsaw. Nevertheless, more than 240,000 sqm is under construction, most of which will be completed by the end of 2025, says Axi Immo.