Demand for office space in Krakow down 15% in H1

Demand for office space in Krakow fell 15 percent y-o-y in the first half of 2020, according to JLL. At the same time, the investment market in the city has turned out to be exceptionally resistant to the turbulence related to the Covid-19 pandemic. “In 2019 alone, companies from the business services sector were responsible for almost 200,000 sqm of demand and 90,000 sqm in the first half of this year. Currently, about 60 percent of the office space leased in the city is occupied by service centers. These numbers perfectly illustrate why the expected, post-Covid increase in interest from new BPO/SSC companies engenders cautious optimism from office investors,” said Dorota Gruchala, head of Krakow Office at JLL. “We could observe a similar situation after the global crisis of 2008-2010. Then the CEE region saw a massive influx of service centers, and Krakow was one of the main beneficiaries of this trend. However, we expect that by the end of the year tenant activity overall and from this sector, will be lower than usual.”