Vacancy rises on the office market in Warsaw

PINK has published figures on the office market in Warsaw for Q2 2021. The data is sourced from advisory companies from the commercial real estate sector (BNP Paribas Real Estate, CBRE, Colliers, Cresa, Cushman&Wakefield, JLL, Knight Frank, Savills) and includes information on modern office stock, new completions, take-up volumes and vacancy rates.

At the end of Q2 2021, the total modern office stock in Warsaw was around 6,100,000 sqm.

In Q2 2021, approximately 60,000 sqm of modern office space was delivered to the capital city market in two projects, i.e. Warsaw UNIT offering as much as some 57,000 sqm and located in the City Centre office zone, and EQ2 (of below 3,000 sqm, West office zone). When added to the eight office schemes completed in Warsaw in Q1 2021, the total new supply introduced to the market in H1 2021 amounted to 226,000 sqm.

At the end of Q2 2021, the vacancy rate in Warsaw reached 12.5 percent (up 1.1 pp. compared to the previous quarter, and increase by 4.6 pp. in relation to the comparable period in 2020). Availability of office space equalled 760,000 sqm. In central zones, the vacancy rate was 13.8 percent, while outside the city centre it reached 11.4 percent.

In Q2 2021, demand for modern office space reached nearly 140,000 sqm. The most popular areas of tenant’s interest were the City Centre and CBD zones. Consequently, office take-up registered in H1 2021 amounted to some 250,000 sqm.

Between April and June 2021, the highest share in total take-up volume was attributed to renewals of current lease agreements – 48 percent, and to new deals – 45 percent (including pre-lets transactions). Expansions equalled 7 percent of the quarterly office take-up.

The largest transactions of the Q2 2021 were: a renewal of some 21,000 sqm by a confidential tenant in the Senator building, an 11,300 sqm pre-let agreement by Urząd Miasta st. Warszawy in Widok Towers, and renewal of a lease contract for 7,500 sqm by Janssen Cilag in Wiśniowy Business Park F.