Leechiu sees recovery in office space demand

Real estate services firm Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) expects office space demand to surpass their initial projections, as the year-to-date figure is already higher than the full year of 2020.

In a statement on Monday, LPC reported that their latest study showed that local office demand rose to 539,000 square meters (sqm) in the last quarter, which is 38-percent more than the 389,000 sqm recorded last year.

LPC in a briefing last October said they expect the office market demand to close in the 450,000- to 500,000-sqm level this year.

"Supported by strong fundamentals, take-up at year-end will surpass projections despite the peaks and dips in demand that characterized the 2021 office arena," the firm said.

LPC chief executive officer David Leechiu still banked on the sustained take-ups from the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) sector to drive office demand.

"We foresee that they will remain a catalyst of the office segment for as long as outsourcing remains a viable solution for recovering firms in the West," Leechiu was quoted as saying in the statement.

The firm sees IT-BPM to take-up at least 54,000 sqm of office space in the fourth quarter and total demand from the industry to reach 229,000 sqm by year-end.

"We are pleased to be seeing new brands from among the captives looking to offshore and outsource to the country," Leechiu added.

LPC also sees the e-commerce industry to driving growth and expanding office and industrial requirements.

LPC likewise expects the rise of hybrid operations as companies would likely slowly ease back to the business districts while also maintaining some of their remote operations.

Source: TheManila Times