Warsaw’s Wola district and the vicinity of Rondo Daszyńskiego in particular have learned well from the crisis of mono-business districts, evolving needs of local inhabitants in the post-pandemic reality and the city’s focus on spatial, social and environmental inclusivity. According to Focus on Wola. Rondo Daszyńskiego – Live & Work Destination, the latest report from global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, this part of Warsaw has seen an over 140% increase in office stock in the last 10 years, but this growth has been accompanied by new residential developments and essential infrastructure projects, including retail stores, service outlets, points of interest and restaurants. As a result, of all the surveyed districts of Warsaw, Wola boasts the highest office absorption in 2018-2024 and is poised for further substantial but planned growth.
Wola is like a small town
There are 11,500 people living within a 10-minute walk from Rondo Daszyńskiego - this figure is expected to double following the completion of planned residential buildings. 15 housing projects announced for this area will deliver approximately 4,000 new flats for sale and nearly the same number of BTR flats by the end of 2027. The growing attractiveness of this area is also evidenced by passenger traffic at Rondo Daszyńskiego metro station, which serves 610,000 passengers a month - this number is expected to grow to more than 1.8 million by 2040,”
comments Ewa Derlatka-Chilewicz, Head of Research, Cushman & Wakefield.
The vicinity of Rondo Daszyńskiego is perfectly aligned with the concept of a 15-minute city, which is valued by both local residents and office commuters. According to our report, within a 10-minute walk from Rondo Daszyńskiego there are more than 2,200 points of interest, including 1,200 businesses, 500 retail stores, 360 restaurants, 60 healthcare facilities and 45 entertainment and arts venues. This zone also contains 20% of total retail space available in Warsaw’s office buildings. This shows that developers are becoming increasingly aware of the placemaking nature of ground floor retail in office buildings in creating a friendly environment to work and live in,”
adds Jan Szulborski, Business Development and Insights Manager, Asset Services, Cushman & Wakefield.
The competition for prime land is set to continue
Wola has seen 670,000 sq m added to its office stock in the last ten years, an increase of over 140% compared to around 42% for the Warsaw office market as a whole,”
says Ewa Derlatka-Chilewicz.
While development activity in Warsaw is expected to pick up after 2026, land availability will shrink by the year. This will be most pronounced in Wola on account of its gravitational pull and unwavering demand for land in this area coming from residential and commercial property developers,”
adds Jan Szulborski.
Wola showed resilience during the pandemic
Unfortunately, the outbreak of the pandemic forced Warsaw tenants to rethink their plans. As a result, office demand in the Polish capital weakened significantly in 2020-2021. However, this was not the case in the vicinity of Rondo Daszyńskiego, which saw relatively strong leasing activity, with double-digit growth in take-up of 18% between 2014-2019 and 2020-2021, and 11% in 2022-2023,”
explains Vitalii Arkhypenko, Market Analyst, Cushman & Wakefield.
The most active occupier groups in Wola between 2018 and the second quarter of 2024 were financial companies and the IT & R&D sector, accounting for nearly 27% and 17% of total take-up respectively. Wola attracts not only the private sector, but also the public sector which contributed almost 7% to the transaction volume in this period. Government bodies which are increasingly looking for modern, well-connected office locations are naturally shifting their attention to the vicinity of Rondo Daszyńskiego,”
adds Joanna Blumert, Head of Occupier Services, Cushman & Wakefield.
The vicinity of Rondo Daszyńskiego is a good example of modern and multifunctional space which is seeing new class A office projects break ground and successfully commercialized. Due to low vacancy rates as well as continued demand for office space in this part of Warsaw and residential developers’ appetite, land availability is shrinking at a rapid pace. Unsurprisingly, the first major core investment transaction in some time took place here in the first half of 2024 in which we advised Skanska on its sale of Studio B. Given the improving investment market, we expect that this part of Wola will become an epicentre for transactional activity in the next 12-18 months,”
concludes Marcin Kocerba, Partner, Capital Markets w Cushman & Wakefield.
About Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global commercial real estate services firm for property owners and occupiers with approximately 52,000 employees in nearly 400 offices and 60 countries. In 2023, the firm reported revenue of $9.5 billion across its core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, and valuation and other services. It also receives numerous industry and business accolades for its award-winning culture and commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), sustainability and more. For additional information, visit http://www.cushmanwakefield.com.