There were over 4,3 million sq. m of modern office space at the end of the first six months of the current year in Warsaw. Developers did not laze in the first six months of 2014 – 190 300 sq. m were commissioned while most of them (76 per cent) are located outside the city centre.
The greatest interest among developers was aroused by both South Western (69 200 sq. m) and Northern (44 500 sq. m) zones. In the first quarter, ten office investments were completed, and in the second – seven. Moreover, it is worth to point out that the first quarter resulted in 84 500 sq. m of new space whereas the second – in 105 900 sq. m.
The largest office projects of the first half year were the first stage of Gdański Business Center complex, offering 44 500 sq. m (Northern zone) and the first stage of Eurocentrum Office Complex, having 38 700 sq. m (South Western zone). The other meaningful investments were i.a.: the first stage of the Park Rozwoju complex (16 000 sq. m) or the renovation of the office at Moniuszki 1a Street (8600 sq. m).
A high supply growth translated into a vacant building rate. In comparison with the end of last quarter of 2014, when it totalled 11, 7 per cent, it increased to the level of 13,4 per cent at the end of June of 2014. It is worth to notice that more unrented space is located in two central zones – 13,6 per cent, than in areas outside the city centre (13,3 per cent).
The tenant activity was relatively similar in both quarters of the first six months. Jointly, the demand totalled 260 000 sq. m, 130 800 sq. m of which were contracts of the second quarter. Just as in the case of developers, the tenants focused their activities in zones outside the city centre (76 per cent of registered transaction volume). The most popular regions were zones: Upper Southern (95 900 sq. m), Western Southern (51 700 sq. m) and City Centre-Fringe (41 200 sq. m). Over a half of transactions were new contracts (53 per cent) whereas negotiations and extensions were responsible for 36,6 per cent. The pre-let transaction interest totalled only 6,7 per cent.
The largest transaction of the first six months is renegotiation of 13 200 sq. m of space by Netia company in Marynarska Business Park. Another large contracts were those made by i.a.: PwC (renegotiation, 10 800 sq. m, International Business Center), Citibank (expansion, 7900 sq. m, Marynarska 12) and Nokia Siemens Networks (renegotiation, 5300 sq. m, Horizon Plaza).