Euro fall makes office market competitive
The strengthening of the international economy in 2005 bolstered demand for office space in nearly all big business centers around the globe, according to the annual report of real estate consultants DTZ. The main bulk of the demand involves high-specification space by firms in the sectors of high technology, banking and financial and legal services. According to the study, which calculates the annual cost of renting office space per employee, Europe’s business centers significantly improved their competitiveness with the sliding of the euro against the dollar last year. Athens now ranks in 31st position worldwide, with the annual cost per employee at 6,300 euros, from 20th place (6,600 euros) last year. «Athens is now well placed in terms of installation costs in relation to other Western European cities. Firms that wish to establish their head offices in Western Europe and, at the same time, have access to emerging markets in Southeastern Europe must be attracted by Athens on account of the reasonable installation cost and its high-level infrastructure,» said DTZ Hellas’s Managing Director Panayiotis Michalos. London’s West End and City, and Paris remain Europe’s most expensive cities for office space, with annual installation costs per employee at 15,600, 11,510 and 11,950 euros respectively. The West End is also the world’s most expensive place for office space, with Washington, DC in second place (up 19 percent from last year at 12,800 euros per employee). Hong Kong was also sharply up – partly reflecting the dynamism of the Chinese economy – in third place from 15th last year, at 12,490 euros. Two Middle Eastern cities were included in the list of 35 most expensive cities for the first time, Qatar’s Doha in 24th place with 6,790 euros and Kuwait in 26th with 6,780. The world average of office space per employee is 14.94 square meters, with the US in top position with 20.88 sq.m. «It is estimated that in most business centers (68 percent) office renting costs per employee will rise, in 26 percent it will remain stable, and only in 6 percent of them will it tend to fall in 2006,» said the DTZ study.
