Wrocław - the place to be

17 December 2018

Strong and original business brand of Wrocław translates into excellent results for new investments, and the office market overall.

According to European Best Destination, Wrocław is 2018's best tourist location in Europe. A Mercer report found that Wrocław is in the world's top one hundred best cities to live in. According to investors - it is the leading Polish city for both technology and start-up investments. Without a doubt, Wrocław has found a solution that is now paying off and is successfully enticing more companies, developers and residents from other parts of both Poland and Europe.

Wrocław is an innovation driven city, with the largest number of R&D and IT centers for a Polish regional city (according to ABSL).

Thanks to its excellent image, Wrocław is today one of the first-choice cities for travelers looking for ambitious professional challenges, and for those that want to relocate. This translates into a thriving labor market, and further serves as a fundamental factor for building investment attractiveness. All of these factors are reflected in the numbers. Over the last 12 years, over 200 investment projects have been established in the Wrocław area and has resulted in the creation of more than 95,000 jobs. Furthermore, there are also 200 start-ups operating in the city, creating a culture of innovation and contributing to the strengthening of the city’s reputation as a Polish innovation hub.

Karolina Grzyb, Director of Business Support Center, Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency

Wrocław office market continues to blossom

Wrocław is the third largest state-of-the-art office market in Poland (after Warsaw and Kraków) and one of the fastest developing office locations in the country.

The recent robust developer activity in Wrocław serves as an important milestone and opens a new chapter for the city's office market. In 2018, Wrocław's office stock hit the one million sq m mark. Hence, it has become even more attractive to investors looking to expand their commercial real estate portfolios. This is illustrated by transactions concluded by the leading market players, such as Globalworth, Warburg-HIH Real Estate, Niam and many others.

Katarzyna Krokosińska, Head of Wrocław Office, JLL

An interesting phenomenon on the Wrocław office market is the formation of office clusters, as seen in the areas adjacent to Dworzec Główny railway station.

New commercial developments such as Wroclavia, Sagittarius Business House, Komandorska 12 and Retro Office House, along with existing office stock and infrastructural improvements, have created a new CBD-like area in the city. Also, new business hubs include the area of Jana Pawła II Square, which is excellent in terms of public transport and its location in the city centre. Currently there are 210,000 sq m of office space under development, which will enhance the leading office locations in Wrocław.

Katarzyna Krokosińska, Head of Wrocław Office, JLL

Developer activity is driven by high demand. In 2015, the Wrocław market saw exceptional take-up figures, in excess of 127,000 sq m, which didn't let up in 2016, and hit the record in 2017 (169,500 sqm). The positive market sentiment continued into Q1-Q3 2018, with 96,500 sq m. The remarkable absorption volumes in the city contributed to a healthy vacancy rate of 9.7% in Q3 2018. Prime headline rents range between €13.7 and €14.5 sq m/month.

Labor market - services rule

The Wrocław metropolitan area is one of the key locations in Poland for modern business services and employment in this sector is constantly growing - it currently has over 45,000 employees (according to ABSL).

Most new investments, and recruitment drives, can be seen in the IT sector. Modern technologies are the hallmark of Wrocław, and this image is supported by a number of development options offered by local companies. Wrocław offers career opportunities for both candidates starting their careers and experienced professionals looking for ambitious challenges and an attractive place to live.

Tomasz Kowalski, Branch Manager, HAYS Poland

Agnieszka Ratajczyk

Senior Consultant at Linkleaders

+48 504 020 522