By Michael Dembinski, chief advisor, and Dorota Kierbiedź, membership director, BPCC
This issue of Contact Magazine Online forms the BPCC’s annual overview of Poland’s real-estate and construction market, presenting current insights from across the sector in the form of four interviews and 20 articles. By reading them, you will get a flavour of what parts are doing well, and what parts not as well.
The interviews…
Dr Mateusz Bonca, CEO Poland of JLL, gives a wide-ranging interview that covers most sectors of the Polish real-estate and construction market towards the end of the first half of 2025.
Polish public-sector infrastructure projects provide a stable pipeline of construction work, but there are pitfalls to avoid; Jordan Zafirow from law firm Hoogells, talks about what contractors need to know about doing business with Poland’s State Treasury.
Piotr Flugel, managing director, CTP Poland, considers the growth opportunities in the Polish industrial and logistics real-estate sector at a time of global uncertainty.
Facilities management is changing rapidly dues to technology that makes the job easier. Paweł Łossowski president of the board of Ever Grupa, explains that hand with tech must go attention to detail when it comes to customer care.
The articles…
Investing in Polish real estate isn’t just something for corporates and pension funds. This article by Chris Wilson and Lech Gawroński from OxStart is a useful primer for UK investors of all sizes considering making a move into Poland.
Grzegorz Sielewicz and Jan Kamoji-Czapiński from Colliers look at the CEE market for logistics real estate and explain why Poland remains such a strategically important and future-proof location.
Who’s investing in Polish real estate right now – and what sectors are hot? Wioletta Bratoszewska from, HSBC has the answers – and some of them are surprising.
How much energy does your building really use? Is it increasing over time – or are you taking steps to decrease it? Certification based on design-phase data won’t tell you. But a way of measuring and certifying operational performance has arrived, says Cundall’s Michał Wójcik.
Like many countries, Poland is currently facing an AI-driven boom in data-centre construction. Jacek Kostrzewski, managing director, of Gleeds Polska says that site selection, material choices, operational energy strategy and stakeholder engagement are vital for long-term value.
No longer does form follow function; form must follow sustainability, argues Matthew Vola from Arup, as climate change, resource depletion and biodiversity-collapse increasingly constrain the built environment.
Don’t overlook the ‘G’ in ESG! Mariusz Witkun, co-founder of Trebbi Poland, focuses on what good corporate governance means in the context of construction and real estate. Integrity and responsibility are essential to a well-run business, he says.
E-commerce, last-mile logistics and the 15-minute city all mean increased demand for small urban warehouse units. Monika Starowieyska from SEGRO asks how best to integrate such units into the existing fabric of our cities.
Looking for flexible office space solutions? The office-as-a-service model is on the rise, say Olga Jezierska from Globalworth Poland.
Joanna Mroczek from CBRE explores the economic benefits of adapting and modernising older commercial buildings. The face of Polish cities has been changed by spectacular projects that have brought new life to previously neglected districts.
An outstanding example of modernisation done right is Wrocław’s Renoma building. Olga Jezierska from Globalworth Poland describe the project.
Tax, finance and real-estate investment
Taxes can surprise the unwary investor, tipping an otherwise profitable project into unexpected loss. Michał Koper of EY presents an overview of Poland’s real-estate tax regime, and what to watch out for. And investors in the private-rented sector (PRS) need clarity on whether their project will be treated as residential, hotel or serviced accommodation, say Adrianna Kończak and Mirosław Metych from Hoogells. Delayed payments in the construction sector have tax consequences for both creditors and debtors. Katarzyna Kozakowska from MDDP offers some solutions. Poland’s real-estate law was amended on 1 January of this year. Dr Maria Tsima from Staniek & Partners says the new definitions were meant to reduce interpretative discrepancies between taxpayers and tax authorities. But have they? Or have they made matters worse? Sale-and-leaseback transactions are increasingly popular in Poland, observes Kornelia Borowiec, from Dentons; no longer are they a simple mechanism to release capital – they have become central to many a corporate strategy.
A really hot topic in Polish market right now is the imminent possibility of a new law permitting the establishment of real-estate investment trusts (REITs) in Poland. Maciej Boryczko from Gessel considers the implications for Poland’s real-estate and capital markets.
Any other legal business?
Poland’s construction sector is notably litigious. But there is an answer to lengthy court cases – alternative dispute resolution. Adrian Andrychowski and Karol Macias from JDP Law examine the options.
The EU’s Taxonomy is there to sort the real green buildings from the greenwashed ones. Grażyna Kuźma from Domański Zakrzewski Palinka sheds light on different faces of green real-estate financing, and how it pays to build green.
Who owns the sky above your – and the soil below – your building? Bartosz Boenigk and Magdalena Mirek from Addleshaw Goddard say that legal clarity is sorely needed in Poland, as urban land fills up and developers seek new solutions.
