Daniela Popescu, Colliers: “The office of the future will focus on promoting social interaction and collaboration”

Following the recent transformations for the safe return of companies to the office, the office market will have to continue to redefine itself in the next period, to provide spaces that promote innovation and collaboration in the new context, according to Colliers International consultants. The office will remain the central element within companies, given that the need for intense collaboration and social interaction in the professional sphere is difficult to meet in a virtual environment, the effects of this period being expected to reflect on the way of working and on the workspace organizing.

”The office of the future will focus on promoting social interaction and collaboration. We expect a new way of working, which will involve a mix between work from the office and from distance, from home or from other spaces. Most likely, employees will prefer to remotely carry out those activities that involve focused work and will go to the office for collaborative work – customer meetings, brainstorming sessions, project meetings and so on. In this context, we believe that the office will go through a process of redefinition, and the emphasis will be on the quality of the space and the experience of the employees, promoting the identity and culture of the space”, said Daniela Popescu, Associate Director Office Advisory at Colliers International Romania.

Most office space owners rely on a stable market with stagnant rents, but 30% expect it could be necessary to decrease rents by the end of this year or in the first three months of the next year at the latest, according to a recent study of Colliers International, conducted among 60 office owners who have diversified portfolios of space, both in Bucharest and in regional cities. Better commercial offers could prevent the increase of the vacancy rate among tenants who may face difficulties in the current context. More than half of owners say that they have felt the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic and 39% expect the vacancy rate to rise to some extent over the next 12-15 months, while 35% are more optimistic and bet on stable occupancy rates.

In the first three months of this year, the volume of transactions in the office market was half the level of over 100,000 square meters traded in the same period last year. However, net demand rose slightly, from 25,000 square meters in the first quarter of 2019, to 27,000 square meters this year. During the state of emergency, most companies focused on business security and supporting it through telework.

Regarding the delivery of new office spaces, the initial plans for 2020 entailed the delivery of an area of little over 200,000 square meters, and Colliers International consultants estimate that most of these projects will be delivered this year or in the first months of the year 2021 at the latest. In addition, more than 200,000 square meters could be delivered next year from the projects already started, while buildings that have not yet started construction, but were planned to be delivered next year, will most likely be postponed for the period 2022-2023. Depending on how the demand will evolve, in 2022 and 2023, the owners could bring to the market another 200,000 square meters in each of the two years, according to Colliers International.