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Landlords in Singapore are renting out more space to co-working space operators as a growing number of businesses seek flexible office premises, reported Channel NewsAsia.
According to Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), there are currently 53 locations here that offer such work areas, of which almost a third are situated in the central business district (CBD) – up from a fifth of the total 40 co-working spaces in the preceding year.
Initially, landlords were worried about the lack of track record of some co-working space operators, as they don’t want a tenant who will pre-terminate the lease after just a few months, said Christine Li, Research Director at C&W.
Nevertheless, she has witnessed strong demand for such office premises around the CBD even though Singapore’s real estate sector has “softened”.
Li also expects that operators of co-working spaces would help absorb market supply, given that an average of two million sq ft of office space was estimated to have been completed last year in the CBD, with a similar figure forecasted for the whole of 2017, which is a far cry from the average annual stock of 1 million sq ft over the last 10 years.
Moreover, the number of such work spaces are set to increase further in Singapore. For instance, Spacemob recently teamed up with developer Ascendas-Singbridge for the opening of a new 14,000 sq ft office in Ascent in Singapore Science Park 1. The new premises will start operating by March, adding to the operator’s first co-working space at Claymore Hill in Orchard.
Similarly, serviced office provider The Executive Centre has entered into a contract with Frasers Centrepoint to take up a 20,000 sq ft space at Frasers Tower in Cecil Street that will open after the building is completed next year.
Furthermore, homegrown space provider JustGroup intends to establish two shared offices with a total floor area of over 100,000 sq ft in the CBD by April, while CapitaLand plans to offer more co-working spaces.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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