The Ukrainian coworking and flexible office market is returning to pre-quarantine levels, the average occupancy rate of locations is 75%, according to a study by CBRE Ukraine and the Ukrainian Coworking Association.
According to its data, the pre-quarantine occupancy rates were 80-90%, while in May-August 2020 they decreased to 50-60%. With the introduction of adaptive quarantine, many large companies have revised their rental strategy towards coworking, after which the demand for flexible offices has shifted to recovery.
“The share of large companies in the structure of users of coworking spaces and flexible offices is growing. Now it is at the level of 11%, but there is a tendency to growth in demand for services from corporate clients. The main share is medium-sized businesses, namely 35%. Small businesses and start-ups account for about 20%, respectively,” the study says.
It is also noted that over the past year, the trends in planning solutions have changed on the market: the demand for open space offices has decreased by 50% and in the structure of space occupies on average only 10% of the location. At the same time, the profitability of individual offices, which occupy up to 55% of the premises, has significantly increased, the report says.
According to a survey of members of the Coworking Association, the majority of respondents use technological solutions to improve customer experience. Thus, 78% of coworking spaces use their own mobile applications for effective interaction between residents and management, and more than half use software to automate business processes and manage locations.
The coronavirus pandemic as a whole has accelerated the transformation of the office market and increased rental interest. As of August 2021, the total supply of coworking spaces in Kyiv amounted to 96,000 square meters, or 4.9% of the total volume of high-quality office space. At the same time, the new supply is steadily increasing, including due to scaling in the regions.
