Regional cities in Poland are attracting an increasing number of tenants and more development activity. Cresa analysed the office markets of Wrocław, Łódź and Tricity.

In 2017, Tricity’s office space absorption hit a record high of 79,400 sqm, compared to the five-year average of more than 58,000 sqm. Leasing conditions in the region hold stable, says tenant-only real estate advisory firm Cresa.

Office take-up in 2017 hit a record high of 674,800 sqm in Poland’s regional office markets, up by more than 16% on 2016’s level. The strongest leasing activity was recorded in Kraków, Wrocław and Tricity. Cushman & Wakefield has published its MarketBeat report.

Class A office buildings in the downtown areas of Gdańsk and Gdynia will finally become available for lease, complementing office provision on the outskirts of the Tricity agglomeration. Tenants are likely to move to new headquarters in more prestigious locations, says Michał Rafałowicz, Head for the Pomeranian Region at advisory firm Cresa Poland.

Tricity is the third largest regional market in Poland, after Krakow and Wrocław, in terms of office stock, now at 693,000 sqm. Absorption set a new high of 62,600 sqm in the first three quarters of 2017, compared to the five-year average of less than 39,000 sqm, says Cresa in its latest report.

Demand in the Tri-City continued apace. 73,800 sqm had been leased in the area in H1 2017. The vacancy rate currently stands at 7.8%. JLL summarised H1 2017 on the office market in the Tri-City.

Over time, some office locations enhance their position in the eyes of tenants while others – lose popularity. The reason for this change usually results from communication infrastructure as its development can create new business regions. JLL has taken a closer look at tenants’ preferences regarding office locations on major Polish markets based on concluded lease agreements. The company focused solely on new deals – excluding renewals of already existing contracts and expansions – signed in Warsaw (in 2012 and 2016), and Kraków, Wrocław, Tri-City, Katowice, Poznań and Łódź (in 2011 and 2016).

Nearly half a million square meters of modern office space was delivered to the office market in the key Polish regional cities in 2016. The leader’s position was retained by Kraków, Lesser Poland’s capital, followed by, amongst others, Wrocław and the Tri-City. According to the report’s authors at BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland, current pipeline projects will also support the high growth dynamics in 2017.