1. HOW WORKSPACES HAVE CHANGED WITH COVID

Over the course of the past few months we have seen a deep change in the commercial real estate market, where there has been a growing tendency to redesign traditional workspaces. In fact, the Covid health emergency has fueled the trend that has workplaces becoming more fluid and dynamic, with broader spread of smart working and the consequent necessity to readapt professional environments.
Rental of commercial and office buildings, rent cuts

According to the findings of a recent report prepared by World Capital in the first half of 2020 there was a major decrease in rent compared to the same period last year. Commercial and office building owners—in light of the major changes brought by the pandemic—have found themselves favorably disposed to lowering rent rather than risking ending up with empty spaces to have to reposition on the market at such a difficult time like today.
Looking at the numbers, according to the data highlighted in the report, Milan was the city that reeled in the most requests; here the average rent in the downtown areas still remains high, €550 compared to €585 in 2019, but you can find deals with a much lower minimum level compared to the latest surveys, which goes from €320 in 2019 to the current €200.

How companies behave

To this regard, World Capital considered the feedback of about 200 service industry representatives and shed light on how over half the sample had already implemented a change in job spaces, modifying them in light of the new circumstances. Twenty-three percent increased the space between workstations, 14.9% chose to focus on co-working applying the logic of rotation among employees, 6.8% transformed open spaces into separate offices, and 8.1% opted for advanced air purification systems.

Instead, plenty say that they are looking for new spaces (about 1/5 of the sample examined), which are divided up between those who want smaller spaces given that more and more are resorting to smart working (13.5%) and instead who focus on spaciousness to guarantee more distance between workers (5.4%). There is an explosion of new requirements closely linked to technology, with 32.4% wanting to invest in specific servers for remote connection, 25.7% would like to have more meeting rooms equipped with adequate equipment to hold videoconferences, and 24.3% that instead focuses on advanced air filtering systems.

by Francesca Lauritano
idealista.it