The flexible office market is growing

CitySpace currently has 21,000 sq m of space in 11 modern office buildings. sq m area and 3 thousand. work stations. It operates in Warsaw, Wrocław, Kraków, Gdańsk and Katowice. The sole owner of the brand is Echo Investment. The CitySpace brand entered the market in 2016 when this rental format was perceived as a novelty and curiosity, and flexible spaces constituted a niche in the office market. At that time, the operator had two locations. However, within five years it developed very dynamically.

The rapid pace of CitySpace development is due to several reasons and largely reflects the changes and trends shaping the serviced office market. According to the data of the international consulting company JLL, the global market has grown at an impressive pace since 2014 - an average of 25 percent. annually.

In the record year 2019, in cities such as New York and London, lease contracts for flexible space accounted for up to 20 percent. the entire office space market.

"In Poland, the demand for this rental format also clearly grew and continues to grow. This is related to the changing models of work organization, especially the implementation of flexible structures and teams. This trend was strong even before the pandemic, and now it has accelerated because more and more companies use the hybrid work model, and employees also expect greater flexibility. They often want to work in different locations within one city,” Rafał Mazurczak, board member responsible for the commercial sector at Echo Investment, said.

The structure of tenants interested in such services has also changed significantly over the last five years. While in 2016 start-ups, freelancers, and small enterprises dominated among them, now also medium and large companies are increasingly using serviced offices.

“The flexible rental format allows you to react quickly and organize work adequately to the current business needs, regardless of the size of the company. For example, handling a new project may require the creation or transfer of a team to a new city, sometimes only in the short term, sometimes with the option of further expansion. Such agility and readiness for change are the features of both start-ups and corporations today. Flexible offices provide an excellent basis and environment for this model of operation,” Lisa Zettlin, Managing Director of CitySpace, noted.

In October, CitySpace will open new offices in the West 4 building in Wrocław. In 2022, it plans two more investments in regional markets, including entering a completely new market.

“We want to continue our expansion within the projects created by Echo. The flexible lease formula has great potential. This market will continue to grow very dynamically,” Lisa Zettlin concluded.

JLL forecasts indicate that in 2030 as much as 30 percent of all areas in the portfolio of the largest companies will operate in a flexible model.

(WBJ)