No new office completions were noted in Warsaw during the first quarter of 2023, with office take-up falling by 40%. Key challenges facing office tenants hoping for an economic turnaround, as forecast by real estate advisory firm Savills, include a substantial increase in service charges which are expected to rise by 30-60%, depending on the type and class of an office building. 

According to Savills' latest European logistics outlook, the take-up of industrial and logistics space across the continent totalled 37.5 million sqm in 2022. Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, this signifies a fall of only 6% on 2021’s total of 40.2 million sqm, which was a record high for the sector.

In 2022, the Polish industrial and warehouse market maintained its solid growth momentum despite headwinds such as project financing constraints and rising occupancy costs. The expected decline in new supply and shrinking land availability are likely to result in a supply gap in the space of the next year or so, says real estate advisory firm Savills.

The estimated value of transactions in the Polish institutional rental market exceeded €1.8 billion at the end of 2022, most of which were contracts for projects under development (forward contracts), according to the latest DLA Piper and Savills report – PRS market in CEE. Experts expect that high real estate prices and the declining availability of mortgages will generate increased demand for apartment rentals in the coming years, and thus attract new investments to this market segment.

Real estate advisory firm Savills has strengthened its management board in Poland with the appointment of three new members acting as business line directors. 

CUBE Office Park in Gdansk is currently going through a green transformation process. The refurbishment of the reception lobby in building A, which was completed last year, is just a glimpse of what tenants may expect in the near future. CUBE Office Park is managed by TFG Asset Management while real estate advisory firm Savills is the sole letting agent for office space in the complex.

In 2022, the Warsaw office market recorded one of the highest levels of demand in history at over 860,000 sqm, with its structure including a preponderance of new leases and relocations, as well as expansions over renegotiations. According to the consulting firm Savills, despite the fact that nominal rents are stable and rising mainly due to indexation, service charges, which represent an increasing proportion of the total rental costs.

International logistics and transport company Emons is significantly expanding its network of logistics centres in the Czech Republic. As of February 2023, it will open its new logistics centre in Ostředek, close to the D1 motorway. Advised by Savills Czech Republic and Slovakia, it has leased over 6,000 sqm of warehouse space at Sázava Logistics Park, which was built by development and investment company UDI Group.

Face2Face Business Campus, an office complex in Katowice with a combined area of close to 50,000 sqm, has a new property manager. Its owner, a joint venture of the Czech fund INVESTIKA realitní fond and Luxembourg-based private equity investor Bud Holdings, has instructed Savills to provide property management for the complex.

In their global real estate outlook for 2023, the Savills World Research team says that capital value increases in most real estate sectors around the world in 2023 will be minimal, and rental growth prospects limited, but investment activity may rebound in H2 2023.