At the beginning of the year they were full of hustle and bustle, in the second quarter – especially during the lockdown – mostly deserted and with a completely different organization of work. Today, many offices have come back to life, although a large share of employees still work remotely on a full monthly basis or appear in the office on a rotational basis. In this time of the crisis, the authors of the report "Office market in Warsaw, At a Glance 2020 Q2" highlight the robust supply and demand, a record-breaking lease agreement, but also the high uncertainty of the coming quarters.
Despite the general fascination with the extensive possibilities of remote working, we are optimistic about the coming quarters of this year in the office market. The situation connected with the global pandemic has exposed the organisational weaknesses of this solution, especially in Asian countries, where access to the Internet, and sometimes even to electricity, outside the office building can be very limited. Therefore, we see an opportunity for our region to transfer part of the processes and competences of companies to Poland. Currently, companies are carrying out an in-depth analysis of the possibilities of a wider use of remote working. Currently, companies are carrying out an in-depth analysis of the possibilities of a wider use of remote working. Legal aspects, labour law regulations and current exchange of information among employees, which are the basis for seamless and effective functioning of the company in the long term, are being analysed
Mikołaj Laskowski, Head of Office Agency, BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland
In the recent years, the demand for offices has been very high, and not only in the capital. This is why, in the first months of the pandemic, developers did not slow down: all significant projects were delivered almost according to plan or with a slight delay due to reduced availability and mobility of construction workers or temporary problems in foreign material supply chains. Assuming that none of the major projects will be put on hold in the second half of the year, which has not been yet signalled by the developers, by the end of December, Warsaw may see 219,000 sqm of space more. Therefore, throughout 2020, the office sector in Warsaw may grow by around 330,000 sqm of new space, which is more than twice as much as last year
Klaudia Okoń, Consultant, Research and Consultancy, BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland, co-author of the analysis
The key word in the new office reality will be flexibility, both in terms of rights and obligations of the parties in the lease agreements, as well as of quick adaptation of space to the emerging needs
Mikołaj Laskowski, Head of Office Agency, BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland