The Polish office market closed Q1 2018 with sound demand, a drop in vacancy rates and 1.8 million sqm of office space under construction. JLL summarised the situation on the Polish office market in Q1 2018.

Occupier activity set an all-time high on the Polish industrial market in the first three months of 2018, which pushed the country’s vacancy rate down to its lowest on record. Demand came mostly from e-commerce (24%), logistics operators (23%) and retailers (19%). Cushman & Wakefield presented a summary of the first quarter of 2018 on the Polish warehouse and industrial market.

Globalworth Poland Real Estate has agreed on terms and is conditionally proceeding with the acquisition of Quattro Business Park in Krakow, Poland.

Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed an exclusive agent for the commercialisation of Fabryczna Office Park under a cooperation agreement signed with the INTER-BUD Group.

Over the last 20 years, the Polish cinema market has maintained strong growth momentum with an average 8.7% y/y increase in ticket sales in 2017 and cinema attendance hitting 56.6 million. Today, there are more than 1,300 screens in nearly 500 cinemas across the country. Multiplexes with two or more screens make up only approximately 25% of all cinemas in Poland but account for 75% of all screens. Most of them (80%) are located in shopping centres. Despite its rapid expansion, this market still has a big growth potential considering saturation levels in Poland and Western Europe.

Madison International Real Estate Liquidity Fund VI LP has taken a 50% stake in the Warsaw Spire office tower, becoming an equal owner alongside the Ghelamco GP12 fund. The value of the tower is approx. €350 million. Warsaw Spire is the tallest office building in Central Europe and the acquisition is one of the country’s largest office real estate transactions in recent times.

During the first quarter of 2018, the Polish retail market witnessed investment transactions totalling over €1.7 billion. This is the largest volume ever recorded in Q1 on the market. JLL summarised Q1 2018 on the retail market in Poland.

After the excellent results recorded in 2017, Warsaw's office market continued performing well in Q1 2018. Vacancy rates are decreasing while demand stands at 202,000 sqm. 770,000 sqm of office space is under construction. There is also a growing demand for flexible space, and state-of-the-art technological solutions. JLL summarised the situation on the Warsaw office market at the end of Q1 2018.

The Polish government’s bill on supporting new investments will introduce new regulations on state aid and operation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs). It is estimated that the proposed amendments will attract more than PLN 2.5 billion worth of investments in the first year of the new regulations being in force and result in 200,000 new jobs created within ten years. Michał Rafałowicz, Head of the Pomeranian Region at Cresa Poland analysed the impact of the new SEZ act.

JLL has been selected by Immofinanz as the property manager of the Park Postępu office complex in Warsaw. JLL took over management of the building on 1st April 2018.