Warsaw: office space rent lower by as much as 25%

2010-03-01

This year, office space costs the most to lease in Tokyo where a square metre of such space goes for €1,441 a year. London ranked second with €1,220/m², followed by Hong Kong (€1,207 /m²), according to a report published by Cushman & Wakefield.
In 2009 lease rates for office space in Warsaw went down, depending on location, by as much as a quarter, and in this year’s ranking of most expensive office space, Poland’s capital dropped from 19th spot to 30^th in the ranking. The most expensive office space in Warsaw cost €395/m² a year. The rates went down because of a close to 50% decline in demand; lease rates were lowered in hopes of attracting lessees. Last year, 19 new office buildings were completed, housing a combined 266,200 m² of space. As a consequence, the city’s total stock of office space grew to 3.25 m m², with approximately 250,000 m² not leased out as at the end of 2009.
Significant drops in office lease rates were also noted in Kiev (by 37 spots to 49th), Ho Chi Minh City (down 31 ranks to 46th) and Singapore (down 15 to 24^th). Yet, there were cities in which lease rates for office space increased – in Santiago de Chile rates went up 28% because of high demand and low supply. Lease rates also increased, though not by huge leaps, in Jakarta, Miami and Cape Town.
In the opinion of C&W analysts, the lower rates are a worldwide phenomenon brought about by lower demand for office space in the major metropolitan centers of the globe. In the opinion of experts, 2010 will usher in a better economic situation which might well push greater demand for office space, meanwhile fewer empty offices will translate into higher lease rates – which should become quite apparent as soon as mid-2010.

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