The business services sector already occupies three million sq m of office space across Poland, and we expect further increases in the near future
Advisory firm JLL summarizes the activity of companies from the business services sector on Poland's key office markets in H1 2019.
In the first half of 2019, tenants from the business services sector leased almost 190,000 sq m of office space, which was a quarter of the total office demand in Poland. The sector's influence is even greater on major markets outside Warsaw (Kraków, Wrocław, Tricity, Poznań, Katowice, Łódź, Lublin, Szczecin), where almost every second square meter has been leased by a company from this industry.
Two of the three largest lease transactions concluded in H1 2019 were signed in Kraków - Sabre leased 16,000 sq m at Tischnera Office, and Ailleron leased 8,600 sq m of space in Podium Park B. In Gdańsk, Nordea has signed a contract for 10,800 sq m in the Olivia Star office building.
A sector that occupies three million sq m of office space
According to ABSL, the business services sector currently employs around 307,000 people, which could increase to 336,000 by Q1 2020.This development, of course, has a direct impact on the office market.
“We estimate that business services centres already occupy a total of about three million sq m across Poland, and taking into account the activity of companies from this industry in recent years, we can expect an increase in this volume in the next few months”, adds Mateusz Polkowski.
According to data by JLL, Kraków has the highest share (58%) of the services sector in the occupied office space. Łódź is second with 53%, with Wrocław once again third with 49%.
|
City |
Share of the services sector in the occupied space |
|
Kraków |
58% |
|
Łódź |
53% |
|
Wrocław |
49% |
|
Lublin |
43% |
|
Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolis |
38% |
|
Szczecin |
37% |
|
Poznań |
34% |
|
Tri-City |
34% |
|
Warsaw |
11% |
Source: JLL, www.officefinder.pl, H1 2019.
The ambitious business plans of the business services sector confirm Poland's high investment attractiveness. They are also an important premise for developers and investment funds’ decision-making, who are planning to develop their office portfolio on the Polish market. Many tenants from this industry consider expanding in office projects where they are already located. They are also establishing new centres in new locations, which in turn leads to an ever faster increase in the supply of modern office space in regional cities.
The rapid development of the business service sector leads not only to strong demand, but also to a change in the functionality and features of modern office spaces and the workplaces themselves.
Competition for talents, the change in employees' needs, the range of generations and personalities within teams pose new challenges for companies when it comes to the selection and organization of office space. The flexibility of space and - which may seem surprising - the emotions and experiences associated with it is becoming increasingly important. So companies from the business services sector which hire thousands of employees are becoming a precursor for this shift in the office space market.