Over the last decade, the country's retail sector has grown by nearly 40%. The increasing maturity of the sector has changed how new stock is distributed and has motivated landlords to diversify their offer. JLL summarised conditions on Poland's retail market.

Spaces, a global concept originating from the Netherlands and offering solutions in the area of ​​flex work and coworking spaces, has leased over 3,300 sq m of space in the historic Matejki 3 building, which was previously the headquarters for the Union of Silesian Insurgents. The opening of this new branch of Spaces is scheduled for the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021. Experts from JLL advised Spaces during the process of searching for the office and negotiating lease terms.

JLL has completed the first phase of the modernisation of the Liberty Center shopping centre in Bucharest, owned by three banks (Alpha Bank, Bank of Cyprus and Eurobank) following the insolvency of developer Mivan Kier. Occupancy rate at Liberty Center has reached 91%, following a €400,000 investment.

Ambitious revitalization plans, a thriving academic centre, nearly one million inhabitants living within its metropolitan area, as well as an increasingly improving infrastructure and extensive transport network are factors that are shaping the image of Łódź as a strong location for real estate investors. However, not only the office market is developing rapidly in the city. According to the report concluded by JLL, the City Hall of Łódź and HAYS Poland entitled "Łódź - Revitalizing a vibrant business and living hub", the residential and hotel segments are also achieving better results.

Wrocław is one of the most rapidly developing business centres in Poland and the third largest office market in the country. The city's office supply at the end of the first half of 2019 was 1.1 million sqm. The attractiveness of the Wrocław market is luring many employees from other cities, and as a result, up to 75% of specialists in Wrocław's business services sector are from outside the city, according to JLL.

Tri-City continues to attract investments and the three cities' office sector continues to expand. The uniqueness of the Tri-City market is underpinned by the fact that the largest office complex in Poland is located here. What's more, Poland's first office park to be located within an airport is planned for Gdańsk, while Gdynia will offer unique office space situated on the waterfront. According to last year's JLL estimates, in 2021 Tri-City will be the third-largest regional market with office supply exceeding one million sqm.

Kraków is continuing its good run as Poland's second largest office market. During the first six months, lease contracts for nearly 135,000 sqm were signed in Kraków which equates to 44% of demand for modern office space outside Warsaw. The most notable transactions in H1 2019 signed both in Kraków and in the largest regional markets in Poland were a record pre-let by UBS for 19,600 sqm in Fabryczna Office Park, a pre-let by Sabre for almost 16,000 sqm in the Tischnera Office, and an 11,200 sqm renewal by Akamai in the Vinci Office Building.

JLL will be responsible for leasing commercial space in Airport City Gdańsk. Construction of the complex, whose usable area will ultimately total approximately 120,000 sqm, will start at the end of this year.

The importance of new locations on the industrial real estate market in Poland looks set to rapidly grow - this is the conclusion that can be drawn from the “Small town, big deal” report prepared by JLL in cooperation with Hillwood Poland and ManpowerGroup. The so-called Big Five (Warsaw, Upper Silesia, Central Poland, Poznań and Wrocław) still remain the growth engine and continuously attract the majority of investments. However, cities such as Konin, Kielce and Częstochowa are the rising stars of the Polish industrial market.

JLL Slovakia announced the appointment of Rudolf Nemec, MRICS as the new Head of Capital Markets, effective from 1st of September. Rudolf has had an intensive 6 years of professional experience at JLL during which he has worked on all major real estate transactions in Slovakia. In his new role, Rudolf will be responsible for building and maintaining strong business relationships with existing and new clients active predominantly in Slovakia and CEE. He brings expertise, enthusiasm, profound market knowledge and a clear understanding of the Capital Markets transactional business.