There were 47 000 sq. meters of modern office space under construction in the first quarter of 2016 in Katowice, according to the latest summary of JLL. The volume was almost nine thousand sq. meters lower than in Lublin, which currently offers three times less office space than Katowice.
In the Q1, Katowice offered 394 400 sq. meters of office space, the vacancy rate stood at the level of 17,4 percent. Lublin, which is considered as an emerging office market, offered 129 000 sq. meters of modern office space last quarter. However, developers activity in the city was higher than in Katowice, which is rather named a mature market. There were 55 700 sq. meters of office space under construction vs. the 47 000 sq. meters in Katowice.
The capital of the Silesian voivodeship was also outrun by Łódź, the seventh largest office market in Poland (Katowice is fifth), in terms of office space under construction (108 000 sq. meters).
As of the end of Q1 2016, quarterly vacancy rates decreased in Wrocław, Poznań and Lublin, whilst an increase was registered in the Tri-City (3,3 p.p. up q-o-q), Katowice (4,6 p.p. up q-o-q) and in Łódź (0,8 p.p. up q-o-q). In Kraków and Szczecin vacancy levels remained stable.
Demand in Katowice amounted to 10 700 sq. meters. The office spaces were mostly leased by companies from the BPO/SSC sector. „The modern business services sector remains a key office tenant on major Polish regional markets, accounting for approximately 63% of demand registered outside Warsaw in Q1 2016. In Wrocław, companies from the sector accounted for 83% of the city’s quarterly office take-up, in Katowice – 81% and in Kraków – 74%” – said Anna Młyniec, head of Office Agency and Tenant Representation at JLL.