Wednesday, 2 September 2026
Kraków’s office market is showing an increasingly pronounced divide between centrally located properties and buildings in peripheral business districts, as companies become more selective about where and how much space they occupy.
Office leasing slowed substantially during the first half of 2026. Gross take-up reached approximately 73,000 sqm, 58% below the corresponding period last year, while net demand declined by a more moderate 27% to around 36,000 sqm. The comparison is influenced by particularly strong leasing activity during H1 2025, but the latest figures nevertheless point to greater caution among occupiers.
Location is becoming increasingly important in this environment. Kraków’s overall office vacancy rate reached 19.0% at the end of June, up 1.7 percentage points year-on-year. However, availability was distributed very unevenly across the city. Vacancy in the City Centre stood at just 10.3%, compared with 21.9% across non-central districts.
The difference suggests that Kraków’s relatively high headline vacancy increasingly conceals two different market conditions. Well-connected central properties are competing for tenants from a stronger position, while buildings outside the most desirable locations face a larger pool of available space and greater pressure to differentiate themselves.
Occupiers are increasingly concentrating on modern buildings that combine good public transport connections with nearby services and workplace quality. Manufacturing companies generated 31% of H1 demand, followed by financial businesses with 20% and the IT sector with 15%.
The largest transaction during the period was Brown Brothers Harriman’s new 13,700 sqm lease at WITA C. Akamai renewed 5,400 sqm at Vinci Office Centre, while PepsiCo renewed its existing accommodation and expanded at Brain Park A in a transaction covering 5,400 sqm.
Kraków remains Poland’s largest regional office market, with approximately 1.87 million sqm of modern stock at the end of June. Developers completed close to 34,000 sqm during the first half of the year, including new space within the WITA mixed-use development and Fabryczna Office Park B7.
Future supply, however, is becoming increasingly constrained. Only around 37,000 sqm was under construction at mid-year, representing a 45% reduction compared with the same point in 2025. Projects currently progressing include Tischnera Green Park 1 and Soneta, alongside the refurbishment of Loft Park B.
The sharp slowdown in development creates an unusual situation. Kraków has substantial vacant office space overall, but the amount of new accommodation entering the market is limited. If companies continue concentrating on better buildings and central locations, landlords could face very different conditions depending on the quality and position of individual assets.
Rental levels have so far proved comparatively resistant to the increase in vacancy. Asking rents ranged from approximately €10 to €19 per sqm per month at the end of June, with the upper end generally associated with central properties and selected higher-quality buildings elsewhere in the city.
The growing divergence could therefore become more important for investors than the overall vacancy figure. Properties unable to compete effectively for tenants may require greater capital expenditure, repositioning or more aggressive leasing packages, particularly as companies consolidate their office footprints and adapt space to hybrid working patterns.
Conversely, modern buildings in locations offering strong transport connections, services and attractive working environments could benefit from demand becoming concentrated within a smaller section of Kraków’s office stock.
With little new development underway, the next stage of Kraków’s office cycle may be determined less by overall supply and demand than by the widening performance gap between individual assets. A city with 19% vacancy can still experience tight conditions for the offices companies most want to occupy while simultaneously carrying substantial surplus space in buildings that no longer meet changing tenant requirements.
