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.

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.

Trei Real Estate GmbH, an international developer and asset holder for residential and retail real estate, has opened two new retail parks under the Vendo Park brand in Poland within a single week. The properties are located in Łuków (Lublin voivodeship) and Władysławowo (Pomeranian voivodeship). This means that Trei has achieved its objective of opening six Vendo Parks in Poland this year. The total value of the two investments equalled approximately €17 million.

The developer has begun construction work on Panattoni Park Kalisz in the city’s southwestern industrial district. It is to have 35,000 sqm of Class A space. The building is to be divided into small business units with the smallest module being 1,380 sqm. The first tenants in the park are to be logistics operators and they will start their operations in the building in April 2021.

Nexity has announced that sales of apartments in its latest investment in Warsaw - La Praga in Radzymińska St. - has come to an end. The transaction has been sealed by a contract made with a Dutch investment fund Van der Vorm Vastgoed, which acquired all available apartments (more than 80% of apartments in the real estate property). The fund declares that they will be available for long-term rental.

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.

While taking care of problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, office developers in Poland already plan their strategy for the expected supply gap in the years 2023-24. Jeroen van der Toolen, Managing Director CEE at Ghelamco summarises the year 2020 on the Polish office market and explains why professional office space will be a needed commodity in the long run.

Israeli investment group AFI Properties has signed an agreement for the acquisition of the T-Mobile Office Park in the Warsaw district of Mokotów for about €100 million. The previous owner was Starwood Capital Group.