More than 21% of offices are empty in the center of Moscow

At the same time, in the second quarter of 2022, the share of vacant office space on the central streets of the capital increased from 16.4% to 21.1%.

“The increase in vacancies is due to the departure of international companies, and large IT players are in the process of optimizing the occupied space”, - said Maria Zimina, director of the office real estate department at Knight Frank, in an interview with Kommersant.

According to Natalya Nikitina, head of the Commonwealth Partnership's office real estate department, the growth in vacant space is associated with a worsening macroeconomic background, economic restructuring and the lack of drivers for the development of the private sector. In her opinion, this was reflected in the plans of companies to develop business in the Russian Federation. Ekaterina Belova, head of the office space department at IBC Real Estate, believes that many companies are losing revenue, which leads to a reduction in staff, and, as a result, to a decrease in the need for offices.

Zimina notes that the release of offices in the first half of the year was at a record pace, and since the beginning of the year, about 160 thousand square meters have been released. m, which are offered for direct rent, as well as about 200 thousand square meters - for sublease.

Director of the office real estate department at Nikoliers Karina Anaevskaya noted that demand decreased by 20% year-on-year, and Belova notes that in April-June 2022, the figure was at a minimum since 2009. At the same time, there is a decrease in the average area of rented premises by 16% year-on-year and an increase in demand for office blocks with an area of 50-250 square meters.

The fall in demand and the release of office space at the moment has not yet led to a decrease in price expectations among owners of premises. Over the past three months, the rate in class "A" has increased by 7.3%.

“This is due to the absorption of more affordable offers and the emergence of more expensive ones”, - says Irina Khoroshilova, head of the CORE.XP office real estate department.

According to Zimina, in the near future the growth of the rate will stop and the decline will begin. Due to the crisis, many developers are freezing the construction of some facilities. By the end of the year, office space vacancy in the premium segment will increase to 18-20% , according to Belova.

“The maximum decline in activity will occur in the second half of 2023. Under an optimistic scenario, the Moscow office market will recover no earlier than 2024”, - Nikitina predicts.