The spread of the hybrid model of working, fast-tracked digitalization of business processes, combined with increased awareness about the importance of employee well-being are the main trends that shaped the office market in Poland in 2020. An indirect effect of the Covid-19 pandemic was an increase in lease renegotiations, as well as a rise in the amount of space available on a sublet basis. AXI IMMO presents a preliminary analysis of the key trends in the Polish office market this year.

Real estate asset and investment manager GalCap Europe has acquired the Koszykowa 54 office building in Warsaw. The seller is a mutual fund managed by UBS Real Estate GmbH. The office building was acquired under the mandate of a German pension fund and complements the existing CEE component within the investor's individual fund structure, which is managed by 2IP Institutional Investment Partners.

J&T Banka has acquired the eight-story Rustonka office complex in Prague 8 from Gramexo, which is part of a group of companies affiliated with the J&T Group, for €80 million (CZK 2.1 billion).

Delta Real Estate has secured the resources and the technical documentation for the construction of the Delta Center business complex in New Belgrade. The complex will include the 26,000 sqm Hotel InterContinental Beograd, in addition to 26,000 sqm of office space. The project will also include an exclusive shopping area and restaurants, as well as a large underground car park.

Belgian real estate developer Atenor entrusted the Budapest History Museum with the archaeological excavation of the plot of 68-84 Bécsi Road in Óbuda, on which it is implementing one of its latest projects, the 15,000 sqm RoseVille office building. The archaeological research carried out on the plot is significant as it was finally possible to examine the large, connected area of the Roman time cemetery of the military town of Aquincum.

Master Management Group (MMG) has been granted an occupancy permit for its Hi Piotrkowska complex in Łódź. In December the first tenants are gradually to start their operations from the main building. At the same time, MMG has signed further leases including with the Rossmann drugstore and the Łódź-based florist Badylarz.

Penta Real Estate has sold the Churchill Square office complex near Prague’s main railway station for more than €150 million (CZK 4 billion) to Českomoravská Nemovitostní and Corporate Finance House Group. This is the largest office transaction on the Czech investment market this year. The acquisition was financed by German bank Helaba.

Demand in the third quarter of the year picked up Zagreb’s office market compensating for the slow market activity observed in the second quarter of 2020. Cushman & Wakefield | CBS International Croatia published its Q3 2020 report for the Zagreb office market.

The public sector, which employs over 3 million people in Poland, is becoming an increasingly stronger player on the office real estate market.

Mindspace, a global provider of flexible workspaces, together with JLL, Colliers International, CBRE, ShareSpace and Brookfield Partners, has published an eBook with forecasts for the development of the flex office space sector in Poland. The experts agree that the current situation has prompted a number of companies to analyse their long-term lease obligations and redesign their strategies for further actions.