In 2020 the coronavirus pandemic pushed Poland into its first recession in 30 years following a GDP contraction of around 2.8%. According to Moody’s forecasts, implications of the second wave of the pandemic will reverberate through the economy also during the first quarter of 2021. The second quarter is, however, likely to see a recovery and this year’s GDP growth is expected to reach approximately 4%. Cushman & Wakefield summarised 2020 on the Warsaw office market.

Brugnola, a joint venture of Rida Development and Mack Real Estate Group has bought the office complex from A&T Holdings for an undisclosed sum. Apollo-Rida Poland, the Polish branch of Rida Development will be the investment and property manager of the property.

JLL has been appointed as the exclusive leasing agent for Marynarska Point 2 in Warsaw. The total area of the 11-floor office building amounts to over 13,000 sqm.

Panattoni is preparing 36,500 sqm of warehouse space for Grupa Allegro – the largest online shopping platform in this part of Europe. The company is to move into A2 Warsaw Park, which is a huge development with one fully commercialised building of over 100,000 sqm. The new location will allow Allegro to develop its logistics platform to serve the companies that sell goods on its website and speed up the process of fulfilling orders. For this transaction, the tenant was represented by consultancy Colliers International.

AEW has acquired a newly developed city logistics asset in Warsaw, Poland. The asset was purchased from Panattoni in an off-market transaction on behalf of a separate account mandate for a German pension fund.

Heimstaden Bostad AB announces its second acquisition in Poland, consisting of three build-to-rent projects in Warsaw with 647 residential units of 29,851 sqm and 11 commercial units of 1,068 sqm for approximately SEK 842 million (PLN 381 million) and an option to acquire an additional 60 apartments. The seller and developer is Marvipol Development SA.

Resi4Rent, the largest private company with subscription-based apartments, has expanded its offer by nearly 230 units in Warsaw. The first residents have just moved into the project located in the heart of Mokotów business district.

Ghelamco has started preparations for the construction of The Bridge skyscraper. The building will stand at the intersection of Towarowa and Grzybowska streets, next to Plac Europejski (European Square) in Warsaw.

Skyliner, one of the highest office towers in Warsaw developed by Karimpol, has obtained an occupancy permit. The skyscraper was designed by APA Wojciechowski. Tenants will start moving into the building in the first half of 2021.

Tenant activity in 2020 was 31% lower than in 2019, with developers being much more cautious about launching new developments than in previous years. As a result, this could lead to a supply gap in the Warsaw market. Advisory firm JLL summarizes the Warsaw office market at the end of 2020.