Flexible space absorption reaches 4.6 m sq ft in India in 2019 first half

The overall flexible space take-up in India reached 4.6 million sq ft in first half 2019, during the same period last year 3 milllion sq ft. With Bengaluru accounting for almost 30 per cent of the leasing by flexible space operators, according to a CBRE report.

Flexible workspace consists of co-working, managed office spaces, business centres, and hybrid spaces.

The report titled, ‘India Flexible Space Digest – H1 2019’, said the number of small- to medium-sized deals (20,000-1,00,000 sq ft) rose to 61 per cent in the first half of 2019 from 52 per cent in the same period in 2018 . Moreover, the number of large-sized deals (exceeding 1,00,000 sq ft) increased to 13 per cent in first half of 2019 from 6 per cent in the same period previous year.

“India is currently one of the leading flexible space markets in APAC and we expect increasing investments in this segment going forward. Office stock is expected to grow from 600 million sq ft in mid-2019 to a billion sq ft by end of 2030 and flexible space will comprise 8-10 per cent of the total office stock,” said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO, India, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE.

Flexible space stock

The report further added that flexible space stock crossed 50 million sq ft across leading cities in Asia-Pacific during first quarter of 2019 while in India, this stock exceeded 20 million sq ft.

“Customised enterprise solutions provided by operators offer a competitive advantage as well as enable them to retain tenants for a longer-term. This is expected to continue to attract established corporates towards the flexible space segment,” said Ram Chandnani, Managing Director, Advisory and Transaction Services India, CBRE.