Office footfall starts to recover in business parks
Business parks across cities are witnessing a steady rise in footfalls with companies asking employees to start working from the office at least for a few days every week. As a result, occupancy rates have gone up from 5-7% in the two years of the pandemic to 20-50%, said industry experts.
In fact, in the second half of March, occupancy rates were up significantly. For instance, Embassy Office Parks REIT saw nearly 33,000 employees attend office in the third week of March, and up to 35,000 in the last week across its 12 office properties in four cities. And, footfall is expected to rise further in April.
“A record number of people were back at the parks in the last 2-3 weeks. There is an increase every week, particularly on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. In the Mumbai park, where we have primarily non-IT occupiers, occupancy is at 55-60%, while in Bengaluru, it is at sub-20%. We expect a sharp increase this week,” said Mike Holland, CEO, Embassy REIT.
IT companies, among the first to adopt the work-from-home model and the largest occupiers of office space in India, also asked employees to return to office from April, though they are likely to continue with the hybrid work model.
CapitaLand Investment Ltd, which witnessed an average occupancy of 5-7% during the pandemic, has seen three- to four-fold growth in March. “...Our clients are looking to welcoming more employees to offices in April. We see this gaining further momentum in the coming months. A majority of our tenants are bullish about their office space requirements and believe physical office spaces are essential to enhance team dynamics, staff development and maintain a work-life balance,” said Gauri Shankar Nagabhushanam, CEO, India Business Parks, CapitaLand Investment.
Business park owners expect office occupancies to return to pre-pandemic levels in the next six months to a year.