In 2020, demand for warehouses reached a record 4.8 million sqm, with supply expanding by more than 2 million sqm. Almost 1.9 million sqm remained in the under construction pipeline. Advisory firm JLL summarizes the situation on the Polish industrial market at the end of 2020.

The refurbishment of the Stratos Office Center, which is situated in the very centre of Warsaw, is nearing completion. Lift foyers on all the floors of the building have been revamped as part of the refurbishment works that are coming to an end. New amenities added to the Stratos Office Center include a Dobro&Dobro café and a fitness room available to tenants. The building will soon see the opening of a two-room conference suite.

Echo Investment will take over a majority stake of the Wrocław-based Archicom company from its founders. Once the transaction is finalized, the Echo-Archicom group will be the largest residential developer in Poland – only in 2021, it will start the construction of 7,000 apartments for sale and rent.

According to JLL, the value of real estate investment transactions in Central and Eastern Europe totalled more than €9.7 billion in 2020. Poland with €5.6 billion continued its dominance among CEE countries, with the Czech Republic in second place with €1.5 billion (after excluding the Residomo deal of €1.3 billion). Total volumes in Hungary amounted to €1.25 billion, while in Romania and Slovakia total value hit €900 and €525 million respectively.

Torus has sold the fourth and final stage of the Alchemia business complex in Gdansk - the Neon office building. The buyer is global real estate investment manager DWS, on behalf of one of its German retail real estate funds. The net value of the transaction is over €80 million.

London-based investor Tritax EuroBox has agreed to sell its asset in Łódź, Poland for €65.5 million to Savills Investment Management, acting on behalf of the Vestas European Strategic Allocation Logistics Fund (VESALF I), a fund raised solely from Korean institutional investors.

After the great year in 2019 and a very good start to 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has halted the expansion of Asian investment funds in Poland. However, analysts are convinced that it is just a temporary situation and a new transaction closed this month also suggests that the flow of Asian capital has not dried up.

Panattoni is to launch its latest project in the Wrocław area. Panattoni Park Wrocław East will be built in Dobrzykowice – just off the city’s eastern bypass. By September 2021, the developer will have completed 24,516 sqm of class A warehouse space in one building, including 11,000 sqm for the world's leading manufacturer of cooker hoods for household use. This is to be the first such modern distribution facility on the eastern outskirts of Wrocław. It will be developed in line with the company’s ‘Go Earthwise with Panattoni’ concept and is to be BREEAM certificated at the ‘Very Good’ level.

GTC has been awarded the Very Good BREEAM certificate for one of its Warsaw assets, the Artico office building. Thus, the company has successfully completed the green adaptation process for all its Polish commercial assets.

The key pandemic-related trends on the Polish office market of 2020 include the transformation of the way work we work and where we work. This prompted many occupiers to redefine their needs regarding the size of the office and the way the office is arranged. Equally important was ensuring workplace safety, also through new technological solutions. As a result of the pandemic and the lockdown measures, both development and leasing activity decreased slightly last year. Demand came mostly from new contracts and renewals. The AXI IMMO advisory firm summarises market conditions in 2020 and explores current office space trends in Poland.