On September 9,2021, Colliers announced that tenants had leased over 1.1 million square meters of modern office space across 15 CEE capital city markets in the first half of 2021.
Warsaw recorded the highest level of activity (249,300 square meters) followed by Prague and Budapest. According to Colliers, Business Services Centres (BSCs) continue to be one of the leading sources of FDI and one of the biggest employment sectors in the CEE region.
The company’s ExCEEding Borders – Office Markets & Business Services in CEE-15 report shows that the total modern office stock in the 15 capitals had reached 29 million square meters at the end of H1 2021. The new office supply delivered in H1 totaled 640,000 square meters, with a further 2.2 million square meters presently under active development and due for delivery over the next 2-3 years.
“As a result of recent disruptions related to the pandemic, the biggest office markets in CEE in 2020 saw a YoY declines of up to -30% on average in both Gross and Net demand,” noted Colliers Regional Director of Research for CEE Kevin Turpin. “The first half of 2021 has seen similarly subdued results, however, some markets, including Warsaw, have started to see green shoots of recovery.” Turpin added “It is important to highlight that a great deal of demand, or occupier activity, across the CEE markets comes from the modern business services sector which is among the largest office occupier groups. To give an indication of how important or how large this sector is, if we assume an average of 10 square meters per employee, then the sector could occupy well in excess of 10 million square meters, or the equivalent of approximately 35% of the 15 CEE capital city market stock.”