The Polish shopping centre market is now considered mature as many retail malls were built in the 1990s and 2000s, that is before the technological boom in energy efficiency and during a period of significantly lower awareness of the issue. A wave of upgrades is coming, but they will not happen overnight due to high levels of refurbishment expenditure required. In the face of rising challenges of energy and heat consumption, experts from Cushman & Wakefield managing a large and highly diverse portfolio of shopping centres and retail parks provide valuable insight into the results of their frequently innovative and low-cost measures.

Panattoni has recently started construction of another hall within Panattoni Park Ruda Śląska II. Now the company has secured financing for the investment. The €9.4 million loan was provided by Millennium Bank.

According to experts from BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland, Poland’s economic outlook remains stable but the global geopolitical situation and high interest rates across Europe continue to hamper a quick rebound in commercial property trading and large-scale transactions. Last year’s results confirmed a fall in liquidity for the CRE sector in Poland.

Murapol - one of the largest developers has started a cooperation with EPP - the largest shopping centre manager in the country. They plan to establish joint ventures. They have notified the UOKiK (Office of Competition and Consumer Protection) of their intention to concentrate.

Panattoni continues its investments in the East of Poland with the handover of another development in the Lublin region. The first tenants are now starting their operations in Panattoni Park Lublin IV.

Jarosław Fiutowski, Member of the Board responsible for ESG strategy and innovation at Ghelamco Poland, talked to Property Forum about the renewable energy in office buildings,  the awareness of ESG issues among tenants and the related stance of Western investment funds.

In 2023, Central Europe’s commercial real estate market faced a notable decline in investment volumes. Dropping by 55% year on year, the region’s total investment volume accounted for €5.02 billion. Of the six countries surveyed by Cushman & Wakefield, Poland experienced the most significant downturn of 68%, with its share of the total CEE volume also dropping. The highest proportion of the capital went into the office sector, which also recorded the sharpest outward movement in terms of yields. Local and regional investors accounted for two-thirds of the investment transaction volumes, a significant increase from the previous years. Despite challenges, the market demonstrates resilience, particularly in the logistics and residential sectors, spotlighting areas of growth potential.

Construction is underway for 7R's inaugural Green Saver product in Kąty Wrocławskie, Poland, aimed at reducing both CO2 emissions and operating costs. 7R Park Wrocław West II has just secured a total of PLN 87 million (€20.3 million) in financing from Bank Pekao S.A.

CTP has expanded the Polish capital’s warehouse market by more than 67,000 sqm through the delivery of two new buildings at CTPark Warsaw South. This completion means the industrial and logistics complex in Mszczonów, near Warsaw, is now almost 90 per cent complete.

In 2023, on Poland’s largest eight regional office markets, developers delivered 280,000 sqm (-31% y/y). It’s bringing the sector’s total stock to 6.68 million sqm (+4% y/y). The new supply slightly increased the vacancy rate, stabilizing around 17.5% (+2.2 pp. y/y) at the end of December 2023. The largest concentration of tenant activity was observed in the largest regional office markets, i.e., Kraków, Wrocław, and the Tricity (about 70% of gross demand), where, in total, companies leased about 520,000 sqm out of 750,000 sqm of all signed contracts in 2023, says Axi Immo.