Lublin - major player on real estate market

In the last six years, Lublin has become a leading player on the Polish real estate market. This city of predominantly academic character joined the group of Polish cities not only having the most considerable potential for stimulating growth of the industry and modern business services but also having access to unrivalled infrastructure.

BUSINESS-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT

Companies choose Lublin for locating their business for several reasons. These include, for instance, relatively low rental costs amounting to EUR 9-11 per sq m (the lowest in other Polish agglomerations
of the most considerable size) as well as lower transaction costs incurred at purchasing a property. Another argument being of utmost importance for BPO/SSC companies in particular is the job market – in this city of 350 thousand citizens, a great number of prospective employees are immediately available for work. Although unemployment rate in Lublin equals to approximately 8.1%, the city is abundant in highly-educated individuals specialising in services. Altogether, each year over 20 thousand students graduate from nine higher education institution seated in Lublin. Additionally, there is a growing group of employees who specialise in business services and have long experience gained in Polish and international corporations. Furthermore, what is of considerable importance is the fact that this group is ethnically and linguistically heterogeneous – Lublin ranks second place in terms of the number of international students in Poland. Moreover, there is an investment-friendly environment in Lublin created by representatives of the Municipal Administration of the City of Lublin.

PROPERTIES FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES

According to the recent report produced by Cushman & Wakefield, the amount of office space available for rent as well as the number of properties aimed at implementing industrial investment projects in Lublin is currently the largest in Eastern Poland and ranks eighth on Polish real estate market. Lublin leads in dynamic growth of floor area whose amount is forcasted to increase to 23%. Moreover, demand for office space and investment plots of land is increasing. At the moment, several hundred properties are offered on the business real estate market in Lublin. These include 41 modern office buildings with B+/A+ class area. The total size of the office floor area equals approximately 170 thousand sq m. Due to carrying out new investment projects, it is estimated that this amount will increase to 300 thousand sq m in the next few years. Additionally, Lublin is one of four Polish cities in which office space is available as part of the Special Economic Zone where any property rental cost is considered a qualified cost incurred by the investor renting the premise. Lublin has got superior transit connections. Apart from nine connecting flights from Lublin Airport providing a perfect link with the rest of the world, there is a modern railway which allows for travelling to the capital within two hours. The new ring road has connected Eastern Poland with Warsaw by providing quick access to S17 A-road.

LUBLIN AS A TOURIST DESTINATION

Lublin shows considerable tourism potential. It is located in a picturesque region with countless attractions – unique upland topography, welldeveloped infrastructure, outstanding architectural features of buildings, and the number of events organised in the city. All this results in Lublin becoming increasingly popular both with weekend tourism enthusiasts and businessmen. The most prestigious events include Magicians' Carnival, Jagiellonian Fair, or Different Sounds which attract several thousand spectators every year. It is estimated that approximately 250 thousand tourists explored Lublin last year and 25% of them were international visitors from Ukraine, Israel, and Germany in particular. The number of overnight stays amounted to 260 thousand with 51% occupancy rate, which was far higher than in other Polish cities of similar size.

HOSPITALITY MARKET

In the last few years, both individual and business tourists have been increasingly interested in Lublin. As a result, the city has been successfully attracting industry-specific investment projects. In the last four years, the number of hotel facilities has skyrocketed – these include hostels, apartment flats for several dozen guests, tiny hotels, inns, and also large chain 3-5 star hotels. Officially, there is over 1.5 thousand apartments in 29 facilities available in Lublin and a vast majority of them (73%) is located in threestar hotels. In the city, there is one five-star (The Alter Hotel in the Old Town) and four four-star hotels. 27% of the total number of rooms is offered in chain facilities. On average, non-chain hotels in Lublin provide 50 rooms, whereas the chained ones offer 98 apartments. The largest facility provides vacancies in 159 rooms. At the moment, further investment projects are being carried out in the city, e.g. a hundred-and-thirty room Hampton by Hilton. Additionally, hotel guests can indulge themselves with scrumptious dishes offered in several hundred eating places located in the city centre and the Old Town in particular.

CONFERENCE FACILITIES

Economic development of the City of Lublin and Lublin Region results in increased demand for MICE services. Consequently, specialised non-hotel facilities are built in order to provide modern conference and exhibition space of considerable size for organising greater number of large-scale events. In Lublin, this market segment is represented by Targi Lublin (Lublin Fairs) with over 10 thousand sq m of exhibition area and Lubelskie Centrum Konferencyjne (Lublin Conference Centre) with eleven conference rooms available for 20-400 individuals. The largest auditorium for a onethousand-person audience can be found in Centrum Spotkania Kultur (The Centre for the Meeting of Cultures). Moreover, Lubelski Park Naukowo-Technologiczny (Lublin Science and Technology Park) provides access to a 420-seat lecture theatre. Furthermore, there is a number of academic facilities, e.g. conference centres in University of Natural Sciences and Medical University of Lublin.

DYNAMISM OF CHANGES

The changes taking place in the last few years are aimed at creating transport infrastructure and business space of superior quality. Consequently, Lublin's image has been enhanced dramatically – it
is now ranked among cities which attract the greatest number of investors. In the last five years, 53 new companies decided to run their business activities in Lublin – both in industry and service sectors. In terms of investment projects, Lublin was most successful in 2015 when twenty new companies started running their activities here. This spectacular result would not be achieved if not for a well-thought, long-term strategy of attracting investors based on focusing on specific industries, marketing the economic potential shown by the city, as well as providing corporate standards in serving prospective investors. Consequently, Lublin has become European leader in attracting and assisting multinational companies into the city. This successful strategy was noticed by reporters of fDi Magazine and therefore discussed in prestigious “European Cities and Regions of the Future 2016/17” ranking in which Lublin ranked third under "Strategy to attract foreign investment in small cities of 100k - 350k citizens" category. What plays a significant role is the quality of life which Lublin is particularly proud of.

In the most recent Report on Polish metropolises 2015 by PWC, Lublin stands out from other cities having scored 122 points. This confirms the result achieved in last year's benchmark by fDi Magazine, in which Lublin ranked fourth place in the Quality of Life in Polish Metropolises category.

Wydział Strategii i Obsługi Inwestorów Urzędu Miasta Lublin