Space requirements for office and industrial space | Netherlands | Cushman & Wakefield (2024)

Traditionally, space requirements for the office and industrial space function are determined by an interpretation of macroeconomic development, e.g., the forecast of local employment. These parameters also play a key role in Cushman & Wakefield's approach. However, Cushman & Wakefield believes that the aforementioned structural trends in the office market should not be forgotten when estimating space requirements. After all, these structural trends increasingly lead to time- and location-independent working, which places different demands on an office location. Office-based organisations tend to prefer locations with excellent (public transport) accessibility and high-quality office buildings in an inclusive, diverse, and mixed-use environment where you can live, work and stay in a pleasant area. This is usually difficult to capture in macroeconomic key figures. Therefore, in addition to the top-down approach, Cushman & Wakefield focuses on a more bottom-up approach, looking at the quality of the existing stock and the quality preferences of office users in the (local) real estate market. This approach assumes the differences between locations and the specific user needs for them. This way, the needs assessment not only gives a picture of the intended volume of office or business function, but also of where it can be realized best.

In order to provide insight into this quality, Cushman & Wakefield has developed a data-driven quality label that expresses the quality and future-proofness (i.e. probability of occupation) of all approximately 21,000 offices and 60,000 industrial properties in the Netherlands.

Based on qualitative trends, (sector-driven) macro-economic development and property market-related parameters such as historical market dynamics and local vacancy levels, the expected quantitative space requirements for work functions were projected. For the province of Zuid-Holland, this concerned the need for office space at provincial, regional and municipal level. It provided insight into the most promising locations, formulated qualitative policy recommendations for realisation and provided tools for monitoring. For the Utrecht municipality, the demand for both office and industrial space was forecast and translated into concrete interventions at subarea level: to what extent should stock be built, demolished and renovated. Area-specific opportunities and challenges were also identified.