Colliers International Croatia says that a new wave of
office development in Zagreb is underway, prompted by falling vacancy rates in
recently constructed Class A offices. The findings come in the international
property consultants' new Zagreb Office Market Overview for the first half of
2008.
The latest
Colliers research says that vacancy rates in recently constructed Class A
offices fell continuously through 2007 and have now reached a level of only 7%,
a rate which is expected to fall to 5% over the course of this year.
New
Colliers research for the
whole of Europe shows that the lowest vacancy rates are in Kiev (0.8%), Vilnius
(1.3%) and Bucharest (1.6%). By contrast Frankfurt has a rate of 15% and
Budapest has a rate of 12.2%.
The current stock of Class A and Class B standard office stock in Zagreb
comes to some 500,000 m2. Out of this around 280,000 m2 is Class A and 220,000
m2 is Class B. Over 95% of Class A office stock comes from projects which came
onto the market in the 2006/2007 period.
Future office projects will need to offer
additional value to the consumer, for example 'smart buildings', in order to
attract and retain tenants. There will be increasing pressure for new buildings
to conform to green building standards as sustainability becomes a major
issue.
Vedrana Likan,
General Manager of
Colliers International Croatia, said, 'Any office
building that is constructed now in Zagreb that does not conform to
international green building standards runs the risk of becoming obsolete soon.
It is more cost effective to willingly adopt the latest technology now rather
than being forced to do so later.'
Tomislav Perovic, Managing Director of
Colliers International Croatia, added, ‘Colliers International has
already been recognized worldwide as an expert in consultancy, marketing and
leasing of 'smart' and 'green' buildings. Our goal is to implement this
experience in Croatia and to add value both to our clients, investors and
developers, as well as to the booming office market that is about to enter this
new wave of development.'
Philip Bay, Regional Director,
Colliers International Southeast
Europe, concluded, “I am proud of the high quality market research we
produce. It is a valuable tool for clients, media and other real estate
professionals, and just another reason why Colliers International Southeast is
the leading property consultants in the region.”
The new research appears
in the Zagreb Office Overview for the first half of 2008 and is available for
download on the Colliers website
(
http://www.colliers.com/Markets/Croatia/MarketReports/).
Colliers International Croatia was
awarded this year the prestigious
First Croatian Kuna, given to the top
1% of companies in Croatia. Colliers International won the award in two out of
three categories; for the most profitable and for the most productive
company.
Colliers
International Southeast Europe was named Property Consultant of the Year in
for the region in 2007 for the second straight year.
Colliers International is a worldwide
affiliation of independently owned and operated companies.