According to “Office Occupier – Office Market in Tricity”, a report published by real estate advisory firm Newmark Polska, in 2024, Tricity finished on the second-highest office take-up level on record, while its vacancy rate – hovering above 12% for the past four years – edged down by the end of December. Despite relatively moderate construction activity in the region, developers continue to closely monitor the Tricity market and remain ready to launch new office projects to meet tenant demand.
At the end of 2024, Tricity’s office stock amounted to almost 1.07 million sqm, representing a 1.6% year-on-year increase. Just under 19,500 sqm of new office space was delivered to the Tricity market last year, down by 41% year-on-year. Nearly 75% of this volume, or 14,500 sqm, was concentrated in two office buildings added to the Waterfront II complex in the third quarter of 2024. By contrast, the final quarter of the year saw no new office completions.
“Development activity in Tricity has been on a downward trajectory since late 2021. At the end of December 2024, nearly 25,500 sqm of office space was under construction across just four office projects, down by 9% year-on-year and over 64% below the five-year average of 71,200 sqm. The entire development pipeline is concentrated in Gdansk. In total, nearly 80% of the office stock under construction has already been pre-leased or is being developed for owner-occupancy,” says Michał Rafałowicz, Regional Director, Newmark Polska.
The largest ongoing office project is the PUNKT building in Gdansk, which is set to deliver 12,800 sqm of office space upon completion. Around 70% of this space has been pre-let to Arla Foods Global Shared Services.
Looking ahead, with office availability in existing buildings remaining high and renewals accounting for 50% of total take-up, development activity is expected to stay subdued in the coming quarters. In addition, stricter regulations on building energy efficiency are prompting a reassessment of overall construction costs for office developments, which are already high.
“Occupier demand in the Tricity region remains strong, with average annual office take-up for the last five years exceeding 100,000 sqm. 2024 saw more than 116,300 sqm transacted – the third-highest take-up among regional city markets across Poland, behind Krakow (266,800 sqm) and Wrocław (146,450 sqm). It also marked the second-highest level on record, following the peak year of 2023, when 143,900 sqm was leased,” says Kaja Karbowska-Nowak, Associate, Newmark Polska.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, leasing activity in Tricity totalled 25,200 sqm, down by 37% from the previous quarter but up by 50% year-on-year.
Between January and December 2024, the take-up structure in Tricity was dominated by renewals which accounted for half of all deals, followed by new leases with a 32% share. Pre-lets, owner-occupier transactions and expansions made up 9%, 6% and 3% of the leasing total respectively. The strongest letting activity was recorded in Gdansk, which saw 95,800 sqm transacted, accounting for 82.4% of all leases. The remaining 17.2%, or 20,000 sqm, was leased in Gdynia, and just 0.4%, or 500 sqm, in Sopot. With its consistently attractive business environment, Tricity continues to attract start-ups and global companies alike. In 2024, take-up predominantly came from professional services (21%), IT (19%) and banking services (17%).
Tricity’s vacancy rate has stayed above 12% for the last four years, reaching 12.5% at the end of December 2024, down by 0.2 pp from the third quarter and by 0.8 pp year-on-year. Going forward, it is expected to continue its downward trend until late 2025, driven by subdued office development activity. Tricity currently has approximately 133,500 sqm of ready-to-occupy office space and just under 5,500 sqm in commenced projects.
At the end of 2024, Tricity’s headline rents remained largely unchanged year-on-year at EUR 13.50-16.50 per sqm per month, while service charges rose to PLN 20-25 per sqm per month, exceeding the upper limit of this range in older, less modern office buildings. Looking ahead into 2025, rental rates are expected to remain flat, with tenants continuing to prioritise office space in prime buildings featuring advanced ESG solutions that help bring down service charges.
