According to international advisory firm Cushman & Wakefield, the beginning of 2026 on Poland’s office market was marked by demand of around 255,000 sqm. Although this was about 20% lower than a year earlier, the decline compared with 2024 was only 8%. At the same time, following the completion of new projects totalling around 90,000 sqm, the volume of office space under construction fell to a new low of approximately 240,000 sqm. Prime space remains the main focus for tenants.
Supply: only around 160,000 sqm of new space expected in 2026
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, the total stock of modern office space in Poland’s largest markets — Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, the Tri-City, Katowice, Poznań, Łódź, Lublin and Szczecin — amounted to 13.04 million sqm.
“The total supply of new space delivered between January and March 2026 was relatively high compared with the years 2023–2025 and reached around 90,000 sqm. This resulted from the accumulation of completed medium-sized projects, both in Warsaw and in regional cities,” comments Jan Szulborski, Business Development & Insight Manager at Cushman & Wakefield.
Among the largest office buildings completed in Warsaw were Studio A, delivered by Skanska and offering 24,000 sqm, and Vena, developed by PHN and offering 15,400 sqm. In regional cities, the largest projects included Swobodna Spot I in Wrocław, developed by Echo Investment and offering 14,650 sqm, and Punkt in Gdańsk, developed by Torus and offering 12,650 sqm.
Despite the higher volume of new supply in the first quarter of 2026, the scale of newly launched projects remains very limited. This is causing a further decline in the volume of office space under construction, which is approaching historically low levels seen only in the early stages of the development of Poland’s office market in 1995–2000.
For example, around 120,000 sqm of office space is currently under construction in Warsaw, compared with almost 750,000 sqm at the beginning of 2020. Around 120,000 sqm is also under construction in regional cities, excluding suspended projects, while before the pandemic this volume reached around 850,000 sqm.
“Low development activity continues to result from the increasing saturation of the market with office space, as well as the persistently high level of investment costs in relation to expected returns,” adds Vitalii Arkhypenko, Market Analyst at Cushman & Wakefield.
According to Cushman & Wakefield estimates, Poland’s office stock will increase by less than 160,000 sqm in 2026, including projects already completed. In 2027, the projected volume of new supply will be even lower, at around 120,000 sqm.
Demand: a calmer first quarter, with new leases dominating
Tenant activity in both Warsaw and regional cities was lower in the first quarter of 2026 than at the beginning of 2025, with sharper declines recorded in regional markets.
In Warsaw, demand in the first quarter of 2026 amounted to 133,800 sqm, down by around 9% year on year. At the same time, the level of activity remained close to that observed in 2024, with only a slight decline of around 3%.
More than 180 transactions were concluded during the period, of which 34 concerned space exceeding 1,000 sqm. New leases dominated the transaction structure between January and March, accounting for 51% of the total volume. Renegotiations accounted for 39%, expansions for 9%, while owner-occupied space represented around 1%.
“In regional markets, total demand in the first quarter of 2026 amounted to around 121,500 sqm, down by around 30% compared with the same period in 2025 and by 13% compared with 2024. Demand in regional cities during this period was driven mainly by companies from the business and consumer services, manufacturing and financial sectors. The transaction structure in the regions was similar to that in the capital: new leases dominated with a 52% share of demand, renegotiations accounted for 37% of leasing activity, expansions for around 11%, and owner-occupied space for only 1% of the total transaction volume,” explains Ewa Derlatka-Chilewicz, Head of Research Poland at Cushman & Wakefield.
Vacancies and rents: slight movement in vacancies and further rent differentiation by location and building quality
The average vacancy rate in Poland at the end of the first quarter of 2026 stood at 13.6%. This represented an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, but a decline of 0.5 percentage points compared with March 2025.
In Warsaw, the vacancy rate increased by 0.4 percentage points quarter on quarter to 9.5%. In regional cities, the largest increases in available space were recorded in Wrocław, where the vacancy rate rose by 2.1 percentage points, Szczecin, up by 1.5 percentage points, and Łódź, up by 1.3 percentage points. A noticeable decline in vacancy was recorded in the Tri-City, where the rate fell by 1.1 percentage points.
It is worth noting that most of the observed increases in availability resulted from the delivery of new office space to the market. At the same time, the pace of absorption, which measures how quickly available space is taken up, varies depending on the city and directly affects the amount of available office space. Over the past two years, the highest absorption relative to stock size was observed in the Tri-City, at 5%, and Warsaw, at 4%, while in Wrocław it was only slightly positive, at 0.1%.
In March 2026, premium rents for the best office space in Warsaw averaged EUR 24.00–29.00 per sqm per month in the Centre zone and EUR 15.00–19.00 per sqm per month in non-central locations. Rent increases were observed mainly in buildings in the Centre, both under construction and already existing. Rents in buildings outside the centre also increased, although on a smaller scale, close to or slightly above the inflation rate.
In regional cities, the best offices in central locations were offered on average at EUR 14.00–18.00 per sqm per month. At the same time, above-average rents were recorded in newly delivered buildings or properties located in particularly attractive locations.
Higher construction, fit-out and financing costs, as well as local market conditions, continue to have a significant impact on the rental policies of newly developed projects. In existing office buildings, rent levels remain dependent on the attractiveness of the building to potential tenants and the situation in the specific local market.
