Continued growth in the investment attractiveness of Warsaw has resulted in high demand for modern office space and is matched by tremendous developer activity. JLL summarised the situation on the Warsaw office market at the end of Q3 2017.

ECE and Allianz have opened the new, comprehensively modernised food court of the shopping centre located in the Polish city of Katowice. During an extensive refurbishment period, the modernized food court of the centre received a new design with modern furniture and a better quality of stay. The refurbishment and modernization was conducted during ongoing operations in the centre in a construction time of approximately five months. All in all the owners invested €2 million into the modernization.

At the beginning of this month the owner of Kupiec Poznański has signed an agreement to modernise the office part of the building. The scope of works includes a creation of reception area dedicated to office space that will be independent from the shopping centre part. Moreover new modern lifts will be introduced and common areas on the office floors will be rearranged according to design project provided by Kostka&Kurka architectural studio. The concept and scope of changes have been prepared by BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland who is the exclusive leasing agent of the building and its property manager. The works are scheduled to finish in February 2018.

One car in Warsaw carries on average 1.3 people and, according to research conducted by JLL, in the Służewiec district of Warsaw, 87% of cars are only occupied by the driver. As a consequence, finding a vacant parking space becomes a great challenge, especially when the rapid development of office districts in all of Poland's major cities are taken into account. So what can be done about this rather sorry state of affairs? Well there are a number of solutions.

Echo Investment and EPP (Echo Polska Properties) have concluded a loan agreement worth €175 million and a VAT loan of PLN 34 million with Bank Zachodni WBK S.A. as an agent as well as PKO Bank Polski S.A. and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. The acquired funds will be used for the construction of Galeria Młociny in Warsaw. The loan was granted for the construction period and a five-year investment period.

In Q3 2017 gross demand on the Warsaw office market reached 198,600 sqm, which brought the 2017 YTD total to 589,500 sqm. The Polish Office Research Forum has published its figures for Q3 2017 for the office market in Warsaw.

Poland continues to attract brands from across Europe. The significance and the share of the Food & Beverage proposition within shopping centers continues to grow. Furthermore, both new retail concepts and mixed-use projects have become increasingly popular as well. JLL presents its summary of the Polish retail market as of the end of Q3 2017.

A scheme from the portfolio of IKEA Centres Polska S.A. will for the first time be managed externally. Centrum Franowo, completed within 15 months and delivered to the market at the end of September this year, comprises 15 000 sqm GLA, out of which 7 500 sqm on level 0 is dedicated to retail and services, while the remaining 7 500 sqm on level +1 will be used for offices.

Ghelamco has secured a €221 million loan for the construction of The Warsaw Hub from a consortium of five banks. Warsaw HUB, comprising three buildings, will have 113,000 sqm GLA of which 70,000 sqm of office space. The complex will also include retail space and a conference centre as well as two hotels. Completion is planned for 2020.

Echo Polska Properties has reached an agreement to acquire a portfolio of retail properties for €692.1 million. The portfolio comprises twelve retail properties of which eight comprise shopping centres and four retail parks with over 620 stores situated in strong regional cities across Poland. The portfolio has an aggregate gross lettable area around 450,000 sqm. The seller is the Chariot Top Group, owned by Pimco (37.5%), Oaktree Capital Management (37.5%) and Redefine Properties (25%).