Katowice Maintains Position as Fifth-Largest Office Market in Poland, Sees Slight Increase in Demand and Stable Rents

Katowice remains the fifth-largest office market in Poland, with resources exceeding 751,000 sqm. Demand for office space in the city slightly increased in the second quarter, with 14,000 sqm of space leased. No buildings were commissioned in the first half of the year, but the vacancy rate slightly increased, reaching 20.8%.

The resources in Katowice’s office market have remained steady for three quarters. However, developers are carrying out their projects, and the construction space is at more than 59,000 sqm, which is the highest result among regional cities. Assuming that developers manage to keep their deadlines, over 36,000 sqm will hit the local market by the end of the year, with the remaining area in 2025. The largest ongoing projects are Grundmann Office Park (21,000 sqm) and Eco City Katowice (18,000 sqm).

“In the second quarter of the year, we noted an increase in demand for office space. Tenants signed contracts for 14,000 sqm, which meant an 18% increase compared to the previous quarter. In the first half of the year, demand reached 25,000 sqm, recording a 6% increase compared to the same period last year,” comments Iwona Kalaga, Leasing Manager at Knight Frank.

The structure of rental agreements in the first half of the year showed a similar result for both renegotiations and new contracts (41% and 40% respectively). A high share went to expansions, which, with a 10% result, are the second – after Lublin – highest result in Poland. The remaining 9% of the leased area went to the needs of the owners.

“Despite another quarter without new supply and growing interest from tenants, the vacancy rate has increased. At the end of June 2024, it reached 20.8%, up from 20.6% at the end of the first quarter. It’s worth adding that the level of vacancies in Katowice is strongly diversified. It’s 17% in the city center, and 24.9% in non-central locations,” adds Dorota Lachowska, Head of Research at Knight Frank.

The vacancy rate in Katowice is the second-highest – after Łódź – among regional cities.

Asking rents in Katowice remained stable at the end of Q2 2024, usually ranging from 9.00 to 14.50 EUR/sqm/month. Operating charges, on the other hand, usually fell within the range of 14.00 to 26.00 PLN/sqm/month.