How Much Office Space?
The question on the lips of the CRE industry is – how much office space does an office tenant actually need?
Well, it depends. It is almost impossible to answer the question in a generic sense because there are so many determining factors, and it depends on the specific needs of each and every tenant. Categorically, one size does not fit all.
For this missive, rather than answering the question, we put the bigger picture into context. We looked back as far as the mid 1990’s because we were directly involved with a market study on office space usage. And today we are seeing live examples. We have to use averages and generic models because one size does not fit all and everyone is different. It’s the nature of the market.
We all know that everyone had a workpoint (fixed tethered ergonomic) in 1995. Today it is somewhere between 0.6 to 0.85 of a person per workpoint.
Square metres per workpoint is a little different. In 1995 it was 13-16 m2 per workpoint. Today we constantly hear it is 9-11 m2 per workpoint.
Our end result? 7.25 m2 per headcount.
Yes, some are more, and some are less, because every tenant is unique. Interestingly enough, our number is very close to so many real live examples.
No wonder net absorption in the Sydney CBD is less than half of what it used to be.
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