This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
WHILE Sydney remains the top market for flexible office space in the Asia Pacific, both Melbourne and the NSW capital have experienced a significant slowdown over 2024.
According to the latest analysis from The Instant Group, while Sydney and Melbourne saw a dip in demand over the year, markets like Bangalore, Makati and Hong Kong were spiking.
Across the APAC region, demand for flexible workspaces were diverse, as the market continues to find its place in a changing office landscape.
Sydney ranked number one in the group’s top ten “hottest” cities for flexible office space in 2024, which is based on total demand for flexible desks.
Despite seeing the greatest requests for desks than any other APAC city, Sydney took a 11% dive in demand compared to last year.
Melbourne was the only other Australian city to make the top 10, coming in seventh place, even after a 9% decline in demand over the year.
Both Australian cities were also the only locations to make the list while recording a decline, excluding the number nine spot, with Singapore seeing a 31% drop.
While for example, Colombo, Sri Lanka and Bangalore, India pulled into second and third with respective increases of 7% and 107%.
Though the reality is a diverse market for demand, as a recent survey showed, a full 100% of APAC operators expect meeting room demand to rise, with a operators expecting demand for private offices to rise significantly and 86% predicting an increase in the next two years, including 14% of operators planning to expand by over 10 locations.
Makati in the Philippines also saw a significant gain in demand over the year, growing 47%, making both Makati and Bangalore the locations to watch in 2025, over the typically larger markets of Sydney and Singapore.
The Instant Group report attributed this shift to the affordability of cities like Bangalore, where companies are faced with lower costs and high-growth environments.
Additionally, businesses are looking to diversify and enter more untapped locations with less risk
While cities like Bangalore, Makati and Seoul–where there was a 5% increase in demand – appeal to companies due to their strong tech ecosystems.
Meanwhile, Hub Australia has just announced its second workspace in Canberra, to be opened at Capital Property Group’s ‘Vernon’ Constitution Place development, marking the group’s 19th location.
Hub Constitution Place will take up the entire first floor of the development and and manage the shared ground-floor meeting and events spaces and business lounge area.With Hub to manage around 1,800sqm of floor space in the building.
“Partnering with Capital Property Group to establish Hub Constitution Place allows us to meet the growing demand for premium flexible workspaces in Canberra and provide valuable meeting and events amenities to the Constitution Place precinct,” said John Preece, COO at Hub Australia.
“Since entering this market in 2021 with our first location, we’ve seen strong demand for our hospitality-led offering.”
Andrew Balzanelli and Aaron Green of JLL, Canberra negotiated the transaction.
Vernon is currently in its final stage and due for a 2026 completion, bringing 15,000sqm of new office space to Canberra.
“We are very excited Hub shares our vision for this iconic development, which is proving to be a highly desirable address and has been well received by corporates throughout Canberra. The partnership with Hub allows for a range of ‘flex’ workspaces, allowing flexible overflow for tenants of the precinct,”said Richard Snow, head of property at Capital Property Group.
The building will be fully electric, allowing it to be carbon- neutral in operation, targeting a 5.5-star NABERS energy rating and a 5-Star Green Star rating.
