Bengaluru leads APAC with 10.6 mn sq ft flexible office space stock: report
As of September 2022, Bengaluru recorded 10.6 million sq ft of flexible stock (grade-A assets), the highest among all major Asia-Pacific cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, and Singapore, according to a report.
Commercial real estate services company CBRE’s latest report also shows Delhi NCR with 6.6 million sq ft of flexible stock in grade-A assets and Hyderabad with 5.7 million sq ft as the two other Indian cities with the most flexible stock in the region. Moreover, in the grade-A segment, India and Singapore reported the highest penetration of flexible office space compared to other Asian nations — Hyderabad: 5.5 per cent; Bengaluru: 5.4 per cent; Singapore: 4.6 per cent; and Delhi-NCR: 4.4 per cent.
Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO-India, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE, said, “India is leading the flexible A- grade office stock in the APAC region. Occupiers are largely re-engineering their portfolio and workplace strategies to accommodate hybrid working arrangements. This signals a healthy office sector growth amid an accelerated return-to-office phenomena in India, led by flexible space operators. It is also noteworthy that Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, and Hyderabad account for nearly 35 per cent of the total flex stock (A grade) in the APAC region, with Bengaluru recording the highest flexible stock ahead of Asian cities.”
According to the report, the total flexible stock volume in the APAC region stood at 76 million sq ft, recording a 6 per cent year-on-year growth and 15 per cent more than pre-pandemic growth level, during the January to September 2022 period. The total number of flexible space centres in APAC stood at 3,000 during this period.
“As we approach the new year, companies that continue to adopt flex spaces would be better positioned to embrace hybrid working arrangements, support their employees, and remain agile in their real estate strategies. Additionally, with companies being able to compare and opt for a variety of flex options, operators have identified and are expanding into secondary markets,” said Henry Chin, Global Head of Investor Thought Leadership and Head of Research, CBRE APAC.
The CBRE study covered 19 major Asia-Pacific markets, including Japan, China, South Korea, Philippines, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, and India.
