Contributed by Bartłomiej Zagrodnik, Managing Partner and CEO of Walter Herz.
The share of domestic capital in the investment structure of the Polish commercial real estate market is steadily growing. Polish companies are becoming one of the most active groups of investors. What types of properties are they buying?
As recently as three years ago, Polish investors focused primarily on older value-add properties offering potential for income optimisation, redevelopment, repositioning, or conversion, and acquired assets mainly for their own operational needs. Over the last year, however, we have observed a clear increase in the activity of Polish capital in the prime asset segment.
From Value-Add Strategies to Prime Assets
The figures show that Polish investors are currently most interested in office properties, primarily located in Warsaw, as well as in the largest regional cities such as Wroclaw and Krakow. In 2025, the Polish capital accounted for approximately 30% of the transaction volume in the office sector and for half of all recorded acquisitions. One active player in this segment is Syrena Real Estate, which acquires premium office buildings in Warsaw.
Another example is the Polish company Sando Office, which recently purchased the Class A Brain Park B office building in Kraków from Echo Investment for €40.3 million. Further evidence of the growing role of Polish capital in acquiring ownership stakes is the case of Mennica Legacy Tower, an office complex located at the intersection of Żelazna and Prosta Streets in Warsaw. Under a recently concluded agreement, the ownership structure of the project was regularised, providing individual bondholders with a realistic opportunity to recover funds from bonds issued by the GGH PF3 Group, which had previously been the project’s second shareholder.
Polish investors are also allocating capital to the retail sector, primarily through the acquisition of retail parks and convenience assets, as well as logistics and warehouse properties. They are entering ownership structures through special-purpose vehicles as well. One example is Atlas Ward Polska, which is negotiating with Ghelamco on the joint development of three major projects in Poland. These include the Warszawa Gdańska development near Gdański Railway Station, where a new railway terminal and a complex of four mixed-use commercial buildings with a total area of around 100,000 sqm are planned.
In both the retail and logistics/warehouse segments, domestic investors already account for a market share in the low double digits. Most often, however, these are assets with conversion potential or properties requiring modernisation and active asset management, involving measures aimed at increasing their value.
The scale of growth in the activity of Polish investors in recent years has been significant. As recently as four years ago, they accounted for around 2% of the transaction volume in the Polish commercial real estate market. In 2024, this share increased to approximately 9%, and by last year it had already reached nearly 20% of total investment activity in the commercial real estate acquisition market.
According to our analysis presented in the report ‘How to Invest Capital in Commercial Real Estate?’, Polish capital accounted for more than 30% of all investments in the Polish commercial real estate market last year, taking into account all concluded transactions. In terms of the number of deals, the share of domestic investors reached approximately 34%.
Selective and Flexible Investor Activity
Polish capital rarely competes directly with the largest international funds for the most expensive core assets. Domestic investors typically operate in a more selective, flexible, and faster manner than foreign institutions. Private investors, entrepreneurs, family offices, and family foundations focus mainly on small and mid-sized assets, investing their own capital, most often in the range of a few to several tens of millions of euros. At the same time, they actively make use of readily available bank financing, currently offered on favourable terms.
In practice, Polish capital invests differently from institutional capital. Investment decisions are more often based on relationships, knowledge of the local market, and the ability to actively influence property value. Domestic investors have a better understanding of local markets, city-specific dynamics, and tenant needs. They assess administrative, technical, and planning risks more quickly and make investment decisions more efficiently.
A portion of transactions is executed off-market, outside the public listing space. Investors do not limit themselves to acquiring stable rental income assets. Instead, they seek properties where they can improve the lease structure, change the asset’s use, upgrade technical standards, optimise operating costs, or prepare the property for refinancing or resale.
Polish Investment Model
Despite the growing activity of individual investors, Poland still lacks a widely accessible instrument that would allow a broad group of investors to participate in the commercial real estate market in a structure similar to Western REITs.
However, domestic capital has developed its own investment models. Polish investors operate through direct asset acquisitions, special purpose vehicles, family foundations, closed-end funds, and joint venture structures. They combine private capital with bank financing, effectively building their own investment frameworks. For Polish entrepreneurs, family foundations, and private investors, commercial real estate is becoming an important tool for wealth preservation, portfolio diversification, and the generation of long-term income.
They view commercial real estate as a hedge against inflation and a source of stable cash flow. Long-term lease agreements and predictable income streams enable returns of approximately 6–10% per year. In addition, prestigious properties in the largest cities offer not only the potential for capital appreciation but also enhance the image and reputation of their owners.
Family foundations play a significant role in the development of domestic capital. For many entrepreneurs, they represent a natural tool for long-term wealth management, succession planning, and capital reinvestment. An increasing number of investment decisions are now made in the context of generational change within Polish family businesses and private estates. Commercial real estate fits well into this strategy, offering tangible assets that generate predictable income and stable cash flow while diversifying revenue sources.
All indications suggest that the strengthening position of Polish capital in the commercial real estate market is just the beginning of a broader trend. Although the share of domestic investors in Poland remains lower than in countries such as the Czech Republic or Hungary, the scale of growth in activity is clearly visible. The professional Polish capital is actively investing in commercial real estate, using more direct and flexible structures than many foreign investors.
