27 October 2011, Beijing – A regional survey of corporate real estate and workplace trends will culminate in the last in Beijing as participants gather in Beijing for the final Asia Office Space Congress 2011 on 23 November. Over the course of 2011 the Asia Office Space congress has taken place in the major Asian business hubs including Singapore, Shanghai,  Mumbai and Hong Kong and now makes its way to the capital of the world’s most populous nation, China, where we see some of the main themes being repeated. Themes common across the region are:

1. Increasing professionalism – gone are the days when suppliers could get away with offering anything other than service of an international level.
2. Increasing costs- even in high vacancy areas rents are high and corporates have to find a way around it.
3. Greater multinational attention paid to Asian real estate – as one of the few growth regions for multinationals more head office attention is being paid to local real estate decision making.
4. Increased response to the demand for transparency – in both transactions, rental contracts and on an ongoing level with service providers and contractors.
5. Acceptance of alternative workplace arrangements – more than ever the impact of technology has made alternative workplace strategies more attractive. We see increased mobile working, free seating arrangements, and a desire to construct a workplace around business vision rather than ensuring employees clock hours at a dedicated desk.

FM Experts Panel Discussion in HK Office Space Congress 2011

However while some themes remain constant others vary between locations. Beijing, where just a few years ago people were predicting an ongoing glut of office space, is now causing headaches for large companies that are looking to expand – there are no vacancies and companies have to choose between radically thinking their workplace design or moving a long way out of town. Tianjin anyone?

In Hong Kong the office vacancy problem has been put on the government agenda as they rapidly vacate their own CBD leased space to make way for corporate needing to expand.

Mumbai finds itself at the other end of the supply cycle with the tenants market keeping landlords more flexible than in the past.

As an event looking at the full office space cycle from real estate, facilities management and projects the Asia Office Space Congress is an ideal place to get local information in a regional and often global context.

It is the only event of its kind to be consistently supported by IFMA, CoreNet Global and RICS in all locations as well as consistently bringing together the senior players from all the top multinational and local service providers who cumulatively create an enormous pool of research and experience. Read more on Survey of 2011 Asian Corporate Real Estate and Workplace trends to culminate in Beijing…