25 Oct Commercial Space Needs – an Upward Trend?

According to a recent article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, space planners for commercial office space provide excellent insight into leasing activity. They help evaluate space needs and functionality and provide future space demand in addition to trends in office design, often leading to new construction.

For the first half of 2011, their activity projected they would have their best year since 2007, as it relates to office space needs. If the trend continues, total projects will be up 30 percent over 2010 and 45 percent over 2009.

Because of the state of today’s market, every company is looking to see how they can lower operating expenses and increase worker productivity.

The real estate market is not an accurate indicator of job growth as it relates to absorbed space but it does create many jobs through projects. Industries experiencing job growth driven by these types of projects include construction, manufacturing, real estate consulting, project management, and design.

It seems as if the latest trends are bringing more adaptive re-use of space rather than ground-up construction. The ABC predicts that this trend will probably continue until at least three to four years into a solid economic recovery.