Bucharest office market: 30 percent of the demand came from the companies that moved into modern projects
Companies have rented in the first quarter almost 70,000 square meters of office space in Bucharest, one third of the demand came from companies that formerly had its headquarters in old, small buildings or in other spaces than modern buildings (noncompetitive stock), according to JLL.
2018-04-12 14:09:38
This segment of demand increased compared with last year, when accounted for only 7 per cent of the total take-up.
On average, each companies that moved its offices for the first time into a modern office building contracted 2,200 square meters, more than the average of the total demand, of 1,166 square meters.
"The growing interest of these companies in modern office space can be explained by the fact that either the spaces they occupied previously no longer respond to theirs requirements, or because most of them expanded their business and needed more spaces. In addition, there are cases when companies consolidate their activities from several small buildings into one modern project. In addition, as we observe, more and more companies are having difficulty finding and retaining employees, and the work environment has become an important tool in recruiting employees", said Madalina Marinescu, consultant Office Department JLL Romania.
The areas in Bucharest targeted by companies that moved their headquarters into modern office buildings were Center, with more than half of the demand and West, with 30 per cent of the total.
IT & communications companies continued to be the most active tenants with more than 60 per cent of demand in Bucharest, followed by energy companies which cumulated over a quarter of total take-up.
More than 60% of the total take-up represented new demand (new contracts, extensions of the existing offices and pre-lettings), which can accommodate at least 4,100 employees.
On supply side, only one building was delivered in the first quarter, Globalworth Campus Building 2, with an area of 28,000 square meters.
For the whole year, developers plans to deliver around 230,000 square meters new office spaces, compared to 140,000 square meters completed in 2017.
The demand for offices outside Bucharest - Timisoara, Brasov, Craiova, Iaşi and Cluj-Napoca totaled 17,000 square meters in the first quarter. Nearly half of the demand outside Bucharest was recorded in Timisoara (8,239 square meters), while 30 per cent of the rented spaces (5,100 square meters) targeted Cluj-Napoca. IT, BPO and professional services companies were the most active tenants, with nearly 60 per cent of the total take-up.
JLL estimates that the modern office stock in Brasov, Timisoara, Iasi and Cluj-Napoca will increase by almost 25 per cent this year, to about 865,000 square meters. In Timisoara, developers announced projects of 83,000 square meters, in Cluj-Napoca, the stock will grow by 43,000 square meters, in Brasov will be delivered 25,000 square meters, and in Iasi only 9,200 square meters will be completed in 2018.