2023 was marked in Poland by a shrinking office development pipeline amid a continued focus on the optimisation of office footprints and overall office running costs. It was also another year in which both tenants and developers faced relatively high office fit-out costs. In addition, high borrowing costs were a drag on expansion, with caution being a key theme characterising the Polish office market, says Newmark.

White Star Real Estate has published its ESG report for the year 2022, which includes a review of activities related to the areas outlined in its ESG Policy: environmental, social and corporate governance. Despite no legal obligation to prepare a non-financial report for 2022, the company opted to create a report in reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines.

The shares of Murapol made their debut on the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Thus, this residential developer became the 413th company listed on the Main Market and the 10th debut on this market in 2023.

Mota-Engil has reached an agreement with Hungarian company Duna Aszfalt for the sale of Mota-Engil Central Europe (MECE) and its subsidiaries. MECE is an active player in the construction industry and real estate development market in Poland.

The new Polish government, dominated by the Koalicja Obywatelska (Civic Coalition) party, announced back in the election campaign that it would resume work on a law on REIT-type structures, abandoned several years ago. Economic organizations are calling on it to make good on its economic promises - the introduction of domestic REITs could bolster domestic demand and lure more domestic capital to the real estate market, virtually non-existent here today.

Ghelamco has announced closing the deal concerning the sale of a high-rise building at Rondo Daszyńskiego, which houses hotels of the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Express Inn chains. The buyer is the French fund Corum XL. This is the third and final building sold from Ghelamco’s portfolio in The Warsaw HUB. The price has not been disclosed.

Develia Group has signed a preliminary agreement with Vastint Poland for the sale of the real estate on which the Arkady Wrocławskie multifunctional building is located. The net sale price has been set at €42.9 million (approximately PLN 185.6 million). The transaction is expected to be finalised by the end of August 2025. Avison Young has been representing the seller throughout the sales process.

Panattoni has completed the third stage of Panattoni Park Zielona Góra III which is now 80% leased. ECE Logistics remains the largest tenant with its largest single-location lease being in the centre. Furthermore, in the first half of 2024 the company is to occupy two more areas with a combined area of 410 sqm this time for office use. ECE Logistics uses the Zielona Góra location to service e-commerce clients. 

Average office occupancy rates across eight major European markets have risen in the last six months from 55% to 57%, says Savills, however on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the average is 64% and 62% respectively, closer to the pre-pandemic rate of circa. 70%.

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest report, the Polish hotel market is seeing a steady increase in demand and key performance indicators. These positive trends are expected to continue into 2024, with a recovery in the number of international guest nights in Polish hotels. In the long term, the market will increasingly focus on hotel retrofitting and implementing modern technological and ESG solutions.