According to the data by Jones Lang LaSalle the total office space in Tri-City is currently estimated at 430 250 square meters. In the first half of 2013, 52 700 square meters were delivered in Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot including two new building in Olivia Business Centre (Olivia Tower of 14 240 square meters and Olivia Point of 9600 square meters), BPH Office Park A&B (9150 square meters), G-330 Aquarium (6 350 square meters), Olivia Business Park – Alfa (5 000 square meters) and the office of the Port of Gdynia.
According to our analyses, office sector developer activity remains high with 71,200 square meters under construction within the agglomeration. Gdańsk, where 75% of Tri-City's office sector construction is located, is a leader in this respect. Despite high-level developer activity, the vacancy index remains stable, which confirms that both companies seeking to expand their operations as well as new market players continue to show interest in the region – says Magdalena Reńska, Head of Tri-City Office, Jones Lang LaSalle.
Her words find confirmation in the data by Jones Lang LaSalle - In the first half of 2013, companies leased a total volume of 22,400 square meters of modern office space. New contracts, pre-let agreements and relocations (net demand) accounted for 71% of the leased space. The main transactions in the analysed period include Geoban (renewal and expansion, 2,800 square meters) in the Łużycka Office Park, Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Oświatowe (pre-let 2,500 square meters, Alchemia phase 1), Acxiom (renewal, 1,600 square meters, Garnizon.biz), First Data Global Services (renewal, 1,200 square meters, Arkońska Business Park) and LPP (extension, 1,200 square meters, Artus Park).
In the first six months of 2013, almost 10 000 square meters was leased in the Olivia Business Centre. The deals of the greatest significance in that period include Medicover and Allianz but there were also a dozen of other smaller transactions under 1000 square meters. The contract with Medicover is of a particular importance as it establishes second the biggest medical centre in OBC along with a pharmacy – a person responsible for commercialisation and lease of Olivia Business Center, Maciej Kotarski says. Most of the new agreements concern office space in the new buildings – Point and Tower. In the Olivia Gate, there are two newly-opened branches of retail banks – Noble Bank and Meritum Bank. Along with the PKO BP which has been operating for more than a year now, there are three banks and Open Finance in Olivia Bank Centre - adds he.
At the end of analysed period, more than 56,000 square m (13,1%) of Tri-City office space remained vacant. Present vacancy rate seems to be ideal from the point of view of a lessee. On the Tri-City market, there are plenty of vacant, low-price offices in a various localizations and standards (A, B+, B-). Office blocks located in traditional centres compete with OBC which attracts the majority of new office space investments. OBC in turn vie with rapidly growing business district near the airport. All of this invites new investors and lessees such as Bayer or Finnish companies to Gdańsk and generates new working places as well as boos the economy - Maciej Koterski comments.
A square meter of office space in Tri-City costs from 12 – 14 euro per month. Effective rents with additional facilities from developers are significantly lower. It seems that now is the best time to change office as the prices are unlikely to go down more (data by Jones Lang LaSalle confirms that) – Maciej Koterski notices. There is also a strong tendency for a developer to fully equip a new office and sometimes even to cover billboard installation or removal costs – concludes he.