After several years of consolidation and shrinking office footprints, Poland’s office market is showing clear signs of a turnaround. Demand for office space is rising again, particularly in regional cities, as companies begin to expand rather than downsize, a Walter Herz report shows.
At the same time, lease renegotiations continue to dominate activity across all major markets. Faced with high relocation and fit-out costs, tenants are opting to extend existing leases instead of moving, a trend most visible in Cracow and Wroclaw.
Regional markets surge, Cracow rivals Warsaw
By mid-2025, nearly 400,000 sqm of office space had been leased across the eight largest regional markets outside Warsaw, marking a more than 50% year-on-year increase in demand in Q2 2025, compared with Q2 2024. Warsaw remained stable, with around 300,000 sqm leased in the first half of 2025, broadly in line with last year’s performance.
The standout performer, however, was Cracow. In Q2, office demand in Cracow reached levels comparable to Warsaw. According to Walter Herz, more than 170,000 sqm of office space was leased in Cracow by mid-year.
Other regional hubs followed, Wroclaw: over 80,000 sqm leased, and Tri-City (Gdansk–Gdynia–Sopot): more than 50,000 sqm absorbed. Outside the capital, IT and business services companies continued to act as the primary demand drivers.
Development freeze outside the Capital
Despite rising demand, new office development remains highly selective. Elevated construction costs and a still-high average vacancy rate of over 17% in regional markets are prompting investors to delay new projects.
So far in 2025, regional cities have seen only marginal new supply, with just a small office building completed in Poznan. Warsaw, by contrast, remains the only market with meaningful new development activity.
Warsaw supply pipeline: cautious but active
In the first half of 2025, around 85,000 sqm of new office space was delivered in the capital across four projects, including The Bridge – 47,000 sqm, and Office House – 27,000 sqm, part of the mixed-use Towarowa 22 (T22) complex, followed by V-Tower – 32,000 sqm and Studio A – 26,000 sqm.
Projects currently under construction include Skyliner II and Upper One, while several others are moving through planning stages, among them additional buildings at VIBE, a new office phase within Towarowa 22, and LightOn Warsaw (23,000 sqm) on Prosta Street.
Across Poland, just over 320,000 sqm of office space is currently under construction, 190,000 sqm in major regional cities and 130,000 sqm in Warsaw. Among regional markets, Cracow leads with around 65,000 sqm under construction, followed by Poznan with more than 50,000 sqm.
