Offices come with canteens, hairdressers and fitness centres
Office & mixed-use developmentThe analysis covers around 300 buildings. Office workers were questioned about their expectations and about the quality of the retail services in their workplace. Currently, over 500,000 people work in around 500 modern office buildings in Warsaw and often spend over eight hours a day in them. The low unemployment rate means that employers are competing for talent, so staff-friendly offices are a selling point to potential employees. “The trends that are changing work spaces and the business environment will intensify, which is going to stimulate demand for office space and improve the quality of developments. A by-product of this is that the number of retail units in office buildings is increasing and they are diversifying,” says Katarzyna Michnikowska, an associate director for research and consultancy services at Colliers International. “Canteens are not enough. Today’s office buildings not only include a wide range of eating options with cafés, grocery stores and newsstands, but also fitness clubs, medical centres, car washes and dry cleaner’s.” Only 30 pct. of respondents were happy with the stores and services at their workplace. Despite catering being fairly well-developed in office buildings, a large group of respondents wanted canteens with simple, high quality food at affordable prices. The employees often complained of a lack of choice and high prices. The amenities that the respondents most frequently stated that they wanted were Fitness clubs and grocery stores. They also stated that they wanted a wider range of health and beauty salons – the women wanted pharmacies and drugstores and the men wanted barbers. The respondents also wanted better access to clothing stores. Over half (60 pct.) of the office buildings in Warsaw include some retail and service space, although 80 pct. have a retail area of less than 2,000 sqm. The vast majority of buildings have space for a maximum of 10 retail units. The office buildings with the most retail and service space are Plac Unii, Koszyki, Royal Wilanów, Millennium Plaza and Europlex. When it comes to the tenant mix, caterers are the largest group taking up 33 pct of the space. Second came financial institutions (13 pct.) and services took third place (10 pct). The food and health & beauty sectors took 10 pct and 9 pct respectively. The retail tenant mix differs depending on the office district. Rental rates for retail space vary widely and depend on the location and prestige of the building. The highest rental rates are for ground floor units in the best office buildings on main high streets (EUR 35-55 per sqm per month). In a few cases, rents are around EUR 100 sqm per month. Rents in office buildings near transport hubs range from EUR 20 to EUR 25 per sqm per month, while in office buildings that have retail space for both employees and local residents prices are around EUR 15-20 per sqm per month. There are not many mixed-use office and shopping centres in the Warsaw market – only 9 pct. “The retail map of Warsaw is changing. Recently, we have seen a new trend of retail space increasing in size in new office buildings and more investment in mixed-use buildings. This trend can mainly ne seen in the city centre,” says Katarzyna Michnikowska. Large retail units in office buildings are a relatively new phenomenon in the Warsaw commercial real estate market. At the design stage, developers are increasingly designating more space to retail, services and catering. Examples include: Varso, Cedet, Centrum Marszałkowska and The Warsaw Hub. In 2018 in Warsaw, around 40,000 sqm of retail space across nearly 45 office buildings is due to be delivered.
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