C&W: 86 Office Spaces Spanning 101,000 m2 were Leased in 22@ in 2017

2 July 2018 – Mis Oficinas

According to the Marketshot report issued by the real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield, Barcelona’s 22@ district closed 2017 with 86 rental operations, spanning a total surface area of 101,000 m2, which represents the highest figure in the last ten years.

The 22@ district is continuing at record levels for another year. According to the Marketshot report from the real estate consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield, the district closed 2017 with a total of 86 rental operations, spanning a surface area of 101,000 m2, which represents the highest figure in the last ten years and 34% more than in the previous two years. This leasing figure accounted for 30% of the total office space leased in Barcelona and was led by pre-lease operations, such as the case of Amazon in the Luxa Silver building (10,241 m2), Activision (King) in Ciutat de Granada 150 (8,837 m2), Hewlett-Packard in the building located on c/Tanger 62 (8,132 m2) and WeWork in the Luxa Gold building (6,572 m2).

Potential tenants in the district are mainly looking for sustainable, high-quality spaces. In this sense, 78% of the surface area leased belongs to buildings with A or B+ ratings. The district had only 60,000 m2 of space available at the end of the first quarter of 2018, which represented a 15% decrease in the available surface area in one year and an availability rate of 7%. If we take into account high-quality buildings only (those with A and B+ ratings), the percentage of available space in the 22@ district decreases to 5.7%. Leasing levels recorded at the moment and forecast for the next few months support the development of new properties.

The 22@ district currently has 129,000 m2 of space under construction, scheduled to be handed over between the second half of 2018 and 2019. The potential space for offices in the district amounts to more than 800,000 m2, of which 350,000 m2 is located on finalist land.

Investor interest in the district broke all records in 2017. In terms of investment volumes, the 22@ district received total investment of €161 million, which tripled the €51 million recorded in 2016. In square metres, the investment volume amounted to 173,000 m2, well above the figure at the end of 2016, which amounted to 33,000 m2.

New construction in the area has reactivated in recent months, due to the type of demand and, to a large extent, the growth in rents. On the basis that this trend is going to continue, there will be an impact on capital markets, where we will start seeing operations again soon.

Flexible and coworking spaces are enjoying an unprecedented boom in Barcelona at the moment. The rise in coworking spaces in the city is clear and during the first six months of 2018, 52% more space was leased in this segment than during the whole of 2017.

In Barcelona, the 22@ district is still the main hub of innovation in the city, attracting technological companies, startups and the digital eco-system. The main coworking operation this year, amounting to 4,500 m2, was completed in 22@ and these types of spaces already account for 3.5% of the constructed stock in the district (…).

Original story: Mis Oficinas 

Translation: Carmel Drake