Mordor disappearing from Warsaw? Apartments instead of office buildings

Mordor is dying. Warsaw’s Służewiec, for years a symbol of office monoculture, is becoming a thing of the past. The iconic Corpolandia and the capital’s largest concentration of white collar workers is losing its fangs and shedding its old skin. Where for years glass facades and open spaces reigned supreme, construction sites are becoming more and more common. More office buildings are disappearing and their place is taken by apartments, services and greenery.

Since the offices in Warsaw’s Służewiec district are empty, why not turn them into apartments, which are sorely lacking in the capital? Sounds great in theory. In practice, however, it turns out that an empty office building is not a ready frame for apartments.

– It might seem that when there is a shortage of apartments, the simplest solution is to use what is already there. In practice, however, it increasingly turns out that what is attractive to a developer is primarily the land under the office building, and not the building itself – says Jarosław Jędrzyński, an expert at the RynekPierwotny.pl portal.

Służewiec is no longer a kingdom of offices

The Warsaw office market is shrinking primarily where older facilities are no longer attractive to tenants. In the second quarter of 2026, the stock of modern office space in the capital amounted to approximately 6.24 million sq m. and were slightly smaller than the quarter before. One of the reasons is the withdrawal of some older properties from the market and giving them new functions.

The problem is particularly visible in Służewiec. The vacancy rate there was approximately 17 percent, which is much higher than in the central parts of Warsaw. This does not mean, of course, that Mokotów will cease to be a place for business. However, the model of the district, which for years was almost completely subordinated to work, is changing.

This is best seen by what happens to specific buildings. The former Empark Mokotów Business Park has already been demolished, among others. Mars, Mercury, Galaxy and Jupiter. Further buildings are also to be demolished. Their place is taken by Modern Mokotów – a project in which apartments are to function together with services, greenery and infrastructure.

In August 2026, another example appeared. Trinity One at ul. Domaniewska 52, an office building about 20 years old, is to be replaced by a complex with over 400 apartments.

“Conversion” doesn’t always mean renovation

In the real estate market, all such cases are often described in one word – conversion. However, this term may mean two completely different things. One is the actual adaptation of an existing office building. The second is its demolition and construction of a building with a completely different function in its place.

For an investor, the difference is fundamental because the old office building was not designed with apartments in mind. Yes, it has a structure, elevators, garage, facade and connections. The problem begins when you need to check how many of these elements can actually be used.

– From an investor’s point of view, it is not enough to answer the question whether a given office building can be technically converted into apartments. The key is how much living space can be obtained effectively and at what cost. If the existing structure requires deep premises, a large communication area or expensive reconstruction of the installation, demolition and construction from scratch may simply turn out to be more profitable – notes Jarosław Jędrzyński.

It is the meters that are key here. A developer may have a huge building at his disposal, but this does not mean that he will be able to sell its entire space as apartments. Some of it will be occupied by corridors, staircases, shafts, installations and technical rooms. The less effective living space you can obtain, the more difficult it is to make the investment economics.

An office building is not an unfinished block of flats

The problem is the layout of a typical office building itself. The office is unobstructed by the deep plan of the building and the central core, which houses elevators, stairs, toilets and installations. An employee can sit several meters from the window and no one will consider it an architectural disaster. As an expert from the RynekPierwotny.pl portal notes, the situation is different in an apartment.

– A typical office floor has a large depth and a central core with elevators, staircases, toilets and installations. In the office, it is not a problem that some workstations are located far from the façade. When designing apartments, access to daylight becomes one of the basic limitations, Jędrzyński points out.

Technical conditions require adequate daylighting of rooms intended for human stay. As a rule, the ratio of window area to floor area should be at least 1:8.

– If the layout of an office building is very deep, its division may result in unnaturally elongated apartments or a large internal area that cannot be used effectively. You can place communication, bathrooms or technical rooms there, but the share of square meters that the developer will not sell as apartments is growing rapidly – explains an expert from the RynekPierwotny.pl website.

As a result, a problem may appear even before the investor starts thinking about the color of the walls or the layout of the kitchen. The geometry of an old office building may simply not allow for the creation of apartments that will both meet technical requirements and be attractive to buyers.

The kitchen needs more than just an extra wall socket

Another obstacle is installations. An office building may operate efficiently for years, but this does not mean that its installations are ready for a residential function.

– In an office building, toilets are usually concentrated in several places near the building’s core. In the block, several dozen apartments on each floor need their own kitchens, bathrooms, sewage lines and access to hot and cold water. The sewage system cannot be routed arbitrarily. Drains require appropriate slopes, and new risers often have to be run through multiple existing ceilings. Ventilation, heating, hot water preparation, electrical installation, metering and fire protection may also qualify for reconstruction, explains Jędrzyński.

There are also acoustics. In an office, the requirements for acoustic comfort are different than in a building where the neighbor’s bedroom is behind the wall.

– As a result, the structure, which at first glance is the greatest advantage of the existing building, may become a limitation imposing the entire future layout of the apartments – notes the expert.

This is why adapting an old office building can be like putting together a very difficult puzzle. Each element already exists, but does not necessarily fit into the new image.

First you need to ask the officials

There is one more thing that an investor must check before he even starts calculating the cost of reconstruction. This is an opportunity to legally introduce a residential function.

– Changing the function of an office building to residential is a change of use within the meaning of the Construction Law. Applicable Art. 71 provides for reporting such a change together with specific documentation. It is also necessary to demonstrate compliance of the intended function with the local development plan, and in the absence thereof, an appropriate decision on development conditions. If the reconstruction requires a building permit, the issue of changing the use is resolved in this decision – explains Jędrzyński.

In practice, this means that an attractive vacant lot is not automatically an attractive plot of land for apartments. Before making a purchase decision, you need to check planning documents, reconstruction possibilities and requirements that the future building will have to meet.

Warsaw’s Mordor needs more than just apartments

Just replacing desks with beds does not solve all the problems. For years, Służewiec was designed around one function: work. Thousands of people arrived in the morning, worked for a few hours and left in the afternoon.

A residential district operates according to completely different rules. People stay there in the morning, in the evening and on the weekend. They need shops, schools, kindergartens, services, greenery and places to rest.

– That is why the transformation of former Mordor is now not only about building apartments. Modern Mokotów will include, among others: green areas, services and school. This is an attempt to repair the basic defect of the former Służewiec – its monofunctionality – notes an expert from the RynekPierwotny.pl portal.

This is why today’s transformation of Służewiec is more than just changing the purpose of a few addresses. This is an attempt to create a district that will not be empty after the end of the working day.

Ecology has its own way, economy has its own way

From an environmental point of view, maintaining the existing structure seems to be a logical solution. You don’t have to produce as much new material, and demolition also means waste. Concrete and steel are particularly important here, the production of which is associated with a significant carbon footprint.

However, the investor must count more than just the carbon footprint. If the adaptation requires replacing the facade, rebuilding the installations, interfering with the ceilings, creating new risers and completely changing the communication system, the calculation may no longer be favorable. In this case, a new building has one major advantage: it can be designed from the beginning for a specific function and market expectations.

Therefore, according to experts from the RynekPierwotny.pl portal, the question is “can an office building be converted into apartments?” is actually just the beginning of the analysis. Much more important is: “how much will it cost and how many apartments will it actually be possible to create?”

The most valuable thing may be the address itself, not the building

A developer who is considering purchasing an old office building must simultaneously look at its structure, regulations and financial potential.

– Before purchasing a facility intended for conversion, planning, technical and financial analysis are required in parallel. You need to check the structure, the depth of the route, the possibility of obtaining adequate lighting in the apartments, the arrangement of installation risers, fire protection, acoustics, the facade and the area that can actually be sold after the reconstruction – notes Jędrzyński.

Only then can you answer whether an empty office building is an opportunity or an expensive problem. Warsaw’s Służewiec shows that the answer may be surprising.

– The property may be very attractive precisely because it will no longer be an office building – but not necessarily because the office building itself will be saved. Sometimes the greatest value of an old building turns out to be the plot of land on which it stands – sums up the expert of the RynekPierwotny.pl website.