Corporate real estate sails into the great unknown

Corporate real estate enters unchartered territory as portfolio expansion, evolving workplaces and technology get set to drive strong office demand over the next two years, finds CBRE’s third annual Asia Pacific Occupier Survey.

According to the CBRE Asia Pacific Occupier Survey 2018, rapid technological innovation, evolving workplace concepts and shifting employee expectations are becoming the “new normal”, and these trends are likely to spur ongoing office market growth.

CBRE polled corporate real estate executives from multinationals and large corporations, finding that 45 per cent plan to expand their Asia Pacific office portfolios over the next two years.

In comparison, 28 per cent anticipate a reduction in office space, although CBRE says a large portion of these companies are planning to grow by improving space utilisation.

Flexible office solutions are increasingly popular, with 33 per cent of occupiers planning to increase their use of coworking.

Take-up by coworking centres in Asia Pacific nearly doubled between 2016 and 2017, CBRE’s report finds. However, this sector accounts for just six per cent of office take-up in 2017. Coworking centres are, however, beginning to expand beyond the perimeters of the CBD.

Activity-based working will increase to 78 per cent of all office settings – up from 41 per cent today – as collaboration drives workplace strategy. CBRE says an increasing number of companies are now emphasising the “by-products of collaboration”, such as innovation and creativity.

Seventy-eight per cent of respondents plan to increase their investment in workplace technology to enhance end-user experience.

Priorities for investment include apps for meeting rooms and desk booking (64%), connected sensors (43%), and predictive analytics (30%). Biometric authentication (15%) and air purification technology (28%) are the key features occupiers expect landlords to provide.

Bradley Speers, CBRE’s head of research in Australia, says “a large proportion” of occupiers want to maximise their use of existing space, and a corresponding number intend to invest in “technologies such as sensors that monitor workplace efficiency”.

The rollout of the 5G network – which will see first commercial services go live in 2019 – will “propel the Internet of Things”, Speers adds, and is a “further step in the evolution of smart, efficient buildings”.

Download CBRE’s Asia Pacific Occupier Survey 2018.