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.

The fourth phase of the Class A+ Váci Greens Office Complex, the 15,647 sqm, already 60% leased Building D has been handed over. The office campus located on Váci Road will be completed by Belgian developer Atenor within the next two-three years after last two buildings (E & F) are finished. The development is financed by Atenor’s own equity.

As of January 2018, BNP Paribas Real Estate was selected to provide property management services for a real estate portfolio of 60,000 sqm commercial properties owned by OTP Real Estate Investment Fund. The mandate consists of 4 buildings: Akadémia Park, Szépvölgyi 22, Raday 42 and a logistics park in Gyál, at the outskirts of Budapest.

Warsaw’s central office district went through a transformation process in recent years following the delivery of a number of modern office developments such as Q22 or Warsaw Spire, which have already been acclaimed as unique and landmark schemes. However, in addition to modern buildings and futuristic skyscrapers, this area is also home to second-generation offices developed before 2000 and historical buildings which form an integral part of the capital city’s centre. Michał Wachowicz, Consultant, Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield analysed Warsaw’s CBD.

JLL and CBRE have been jointly appointed to lease Budapest ONE Business Park, the new office development project of Futureal Group in Hungary. The two advisors will cooperate on a co-exclusive basis for the leasing of the 68,000 square meter office complex.

Łódź will become the second Polish city after Warsaw with projects by HB Reavis. The company has become the new owner of a plot at 2 Targowa Street in Nowe Centrum Łodzi (The New Centre of Łódź). According to the local zoning plan, the area will consist of office buildings with publicly accessible retail and walkable spaces on the ground floors. The listed buildings located on the plot will also be preserved. The price of the plot has not been revealed.

Business services companies remain core office tenants in Wrocław, setting new market trends and trying to attract top talent. Michał Grabikowski, Head of the Wrocław Office of Cresa Poland summarised the key strengths of Lower Silesia’s capital city.

The fourth quarter of 2017 was very strong for the office market in Prague. Demand significantly increased and annual gross demand reached a new record. Five new office buildings were completed and the vacancy rate decreased to 7.5 %, while prime headline rents grew, JLL reports.

The supply of new Class A office space delivered in Bucharest in 2017 was absorbed almost entirely by demand, as per a report by CBRE regarding the office market in 2017, which also says 90% of the office space area completed in 2017 has already been leased.

Each new office leasing contract signed in Bucharest last year created at least 130 new jobs. Dimitrie Pompeiu and South sub-markets made the top, with more than 200 new jobs per transaction, according to the latest JLL market report.