‘Huge’ post-pandemic office development opportunities

Three years-worth of leasing activity could well take place in the next 18 months as the pent up pressure for new premises is unleashed. So says Axa IM Alts’ head of research and strategy Justin Curlow.

He explains that many lease decisions due to occur in 2020 were deferred into 2021 and these could be combined with some of those deferred in the first half of this year. Furthermore, there is likely to be increased focus on Grade A space. “I think there’s going to be a huge development opportunity to really build out the type of office stock that occupiers are going to be demanding in a post-Covid world,” Curlow told Real Asset Insight’s Richard Betts.

Curlow said that many of the initial conversations about the return – or not – to the office were “oversimplifying what’s a very complicated situation”.

“Even if people work from home one or two days a week, that doesn’t necessarily equate to 20% or 40% percent less office demand,” he said. He added that just as transport infrastructure is designed around peak usage, offices are likely to be designed around peak usage in future.

Click on the video above to watch the full interview or listen to the podcast below.

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