The return to offices after the corona pandemic happened much faster than expected, and the geopolitical events that followed contributed to the relocation of numerous businesses from Russia to Serbia. All of this influenced the exceptional demand in 2022 for the lease of office space, which is not abating even this year.
“The previous year was certainly specific both on the global and local level. Socio-political events dictated certain changes. There are fewer surprises on the field this year. However, the fact is that premium business premises are still a trend, which is confirmed by the unchanged demand for this type of space. Regarding the profile of the industry, there really are no rules, everyone needs high-quality and modern office space, and it is noticeable that in recent years they have been paying special attention to the selection of office space”.
They point out that with the permanent development of new projects, they follow the market demand.
“AFI City Zmaj is the latest project of our company, but there are also other investments, the new 13th building in a row within the Airport City Belgrade business park, as well as the third tower in the Skyline complex. In this way, we holistically respond to the entire market demand. There is still a significant demand for high-quality office space, but it is certainly not at the level of last year, when a large number of Russian companies influenced a significant increase in the demand for office space”, the company emphasizes.
In support of the high demand for leasing office space is the fact that CBRE Group, one of the world’s largest companies for commercial real estate services, states that some of the buildings currently being built in Belgrade are already fully pre-let. They point out that the demand for renting office space in our country is still at a high level, although somewhat more moderate compared to the expansive 2022.
“Last year, more than 120,000 square meters of business space were built in the Belgrade area, which represents a growth of more than 15 percent on an annual basis and the largest annual offer when we take into account the past decade. However, even this record number of new square meters hardly satisfied the demand, so the rate of available office space in Belgrade remained quite low during the previous year, and most of the new square meters were issued during the construction itself”, Ivan Stojić, head of the sub-department for office space for the Adriatic region of CBRE Group.
As he adds, 134,000 square meters of office space is currently being built in Belgrade, part of which will be completed by the end of this year, and part during 2024 and 2025. Thus, during the third quarter of 2023, the total offer of office space increased by 35,000 square meters, and now amounts to 1,228,000 square meters of office space. According to Stojić, the largest part of these newly built square meters was released during 2022, and the demand, although slightly more moderate, remained at a high level.