Vastint Poland Managing Director Roger Andersson explains how the firm’s long-term ownership model and premium portfolio are built for a market where rents are rising alongside demand for quality office space.
Q: What sets Vastint apart from other developers?
Vastint is part of a larger private equity group, and the foundational principle running through the organisation at every level is long-term thinking. Because we invest our own equity and are not dependent on external financing, we are not under pressure to sell. That independence gives us the freedom to do things properly and to focus on quality.
When you own a building for the long term, quality is not optional – it is a financial necessity. Some of our buildings here are between 12 and 14 years old, yet they do not feel it. For us, solid solutions are not a marketing point; they are the rational consequence of being a long-term owner.
Q: What is Vastint’s footprint in Poland specifically?
We are present in the major Polish cities. Our signature concept here is the Business Garden – large, campus-style office developments located within convenient reach of city centres and key transport hubs. We have Business Gardens in Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław, each offering between 80,000 and 100,000 square metres of office space. It is a distinctive format that has become associated with the Vastint name.
In the Tri-City region, we operate more standalone office buildings. Looking ahead, we also have plans for new office projects in the centres of Poznań and Wrocław, and we are actively exploring the acquisition of existing central Warsaw buildings this year. So while we are known for the Business Garden model, our presence is broadening. We occupy a distinct position at the quality end of the market, and we have worked for many years to build and protect that reputation.
Q: How do you assess Poland’s market growth potential?
The office market in Poland remains undersupplied relative to comparable European cities. At the same time, the country continues to attract new companies looking to establish or expand operations here, and economic growth is sustaining demand. In the years following the pandemic, many developers pivoted away from offices toward residential, which means a significant number of office plots have been converted. That structural shift has compounded the supply shortage.
On top of this, a large proportion of existing stock, perhaps half, is 15 to 25 years old and no longer fit for purpose. In Sweden, a 20-year-old building would be renovated; here, however, construction quality of older buildings is often insufficient, while the cost of adapting them to today’s standards can be economically unjustifiable – making demolition the only viable solution. So even as new supply is added, older buildings are being removed, keeping the net stock roughly flat.
Rental levels are reflecting this: prime rents in Warsaw have risen from around €24–25 per square metre a few years ago to €30–35 today. We see strong potential in the office market for at least the next decade.
Q: How does Vastint approach innovation and sustainability?
Innovation for us is not about inventing entirely new things – it is about finding smarter ways to build: smarter structural solutions, smarter windows, smarter choices at every stage. We have been doing this for 20 to 30 years, quietly and consistently. The result is that we do not need to overhaul our approach every time there is a new trend; we have already refined it.
Sustainability has been part of what we do since before the word was commonly used in this industry. We started by simply asking: what makes a good building? A good building has a well-designed envelope that minimises heat loss and reduces the need for mechanical heating and cooling. That is an energy question, a comfort question and a cost question, all at once.
In residential, where we are also increasingly active, we have introduced heat pumps into individual apartments – something no other developer in Poland has done at scale. The imperative there is clear: if we rely on district heating powered by coal, we cannot credibly commit to being net zero by 2030. So we find local solutions, whether heat pumps, solar or other technologies, that allow us to meet our sustainability targets without waiting for the grid to catch up.
Q: Why should investors consider Poland?
The most important factor, and one that is sometimes overlooked by those focused purely on economics, is the people. Poland has a large, well-educated and highly motivated workforce.
Infrastructure has improved enormously. Poland is sometimes perceived as administratively complex, but when you compare it with France, Italy or the UK, it is actually more straightforward.
For the real estate sector specifically, the supply shortage in offices, combined with strong demand from both domestic growth and foreign corporate investment, creates a compelling investment case. Rental levels are rising, quality assets are scarce and the market rewards those who take a long-term view.
Q: What are Vastint’s ambitions in Poland over the next five years?
We plan to grow substantially. Our intention is to roughly double our presence in Poland within five years – through new developments and through acquisitions of existing buildings in central locations, particularly in Warsaw. We are also entering the private rented sector for the first time in Poland, with our first PRS residential building opening in Poznań this year. That is a format we believe is well-suited to the Polish market and one where, characteristically, we are approaching it differently from others.
We will remain in our existing locations rather than dispersing into new cities. The priority is to do more of what we do well, in the markets we understand, at the quality level our tenants expect.
