Auckland’s CBD office vacancy rates remain well below the 10-year average of 8.2% according to Colliers International’s latest Auckland Metropolitan Office Research report for March 2017.

Record low vacancy rates in the CBD and the difficulty for businesses to find affordable office spaces has resulted in a spill over of demand to wider Metropolitan office accommodation and particularly in the North Shore.  

Since 2011, office vacancy rates across Auckland have been dropping and as of March 2017, only 108,000sq m (6.3%) remains.

For the North Shore particularly, the survey reveals that the overall vacancy rate is 4.8%. More specifically, Takapuna had a vacancy rate of 3.7%, Albany 0.9%, Mairangi Bay 8.1% and North Harbour 6.5%. Of the 375,796sq m of office stock only 17,875sq m of office space remains.

As this report is based on the percentage of available office stock, since the report’s release Mairangi Bay’s vacancy rate has dropped substantially with only one level of available office space remaining at 61 Constellation Drive.

New approaches to urban design are potentially meeting this increase in demand, particularly seen in the increase of flexible leasing options.

As of recently, the world’s leading flexible workspace provider, Regus, has been expanding rapidly in New Zealand.

Regus, which operates a global network of almost 3000 shared workspaces, will soon be launching its newest office in a desirable Auckland CBD-fringe location.

The company is also close to launching a new location in Dunedin, which will become the city’s first co-working space.

The new locations will increase the number of Regus workspaces in New Zealand to 10 – six in Auckland, three in Wellington and one in Dunedin, with more locations in other cities to follow shortly.

Regus New Zealand Director Pierre Ferrandon says the company’s rapid local growth is being driven by the surge in popularity of co-working.

There are more than 40 co-working facilities in operation across New Zealand, and Colliers International research suggests that number will increase by 20 per cent this year.

Ferrandon says Regus is uniquely positioned to offer clients the best possible co-working experience due to its unrivalled experience in shared workspaces.

“Co-working may be on trend right now, but we have been offering high-quality shared workspaces for more than 30 years, catering for over 2.4 million customers from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies,” he says.

“Our workspaces are an excellent place to do business – they bring companies closer to clients and open up networking opportunities, bringing global and local businesses together.”

Regus offers a range of services, including bookable meeting rooms, mail and phone answering services, reception staff, and offices with your name on the door.

Similar flexible leasing options are being introduced to the North Shore such as Smales Farm’s B:Hive development in Takapuna.

Unlike traditional lease arrangements, B:Hive rental terms are flexible, allowing tenants to lease for months or years as required, and to alter their rental as their space requirements changes.

We want to hear about your current leasing situation in the North Shore. Please contact us today to discuss.