The pandemic has had a profound impact on the office property market. The habits of workers have changed drastically. Now, for most, being completely office based is out of the question. According to a 2022 Deloitte report, remote and hybrid work practices were adopted at 70% of businesses. And almost half of the respondents state that they would want to change jobs if they were forced to work from the office more. This market transformation has also had an impact on office car parks. The main factors which impact car parks in office buildings include work organisation, office building age, number of tenants, ESG reporting and PropTech technologies.
Work organisation
Work organisation has a tremendous impact on an office car park occupancy rate. Before the pandemic, parking spaces were allocated to selected individuals. Only managers who worked exclusively in the office were able to take advantage of a car park. They would commute to work every day and as such car parking spaces were occupied. However, all that changed in 2020. The management began working for only a few days in the office. The rest were spend working from home. Vacant car park spaces began appearing. The system where a space was permanently assigned to a given person became obsolete. This frustrated the other employees. They knew there were empty parking spaces, but they could not use them.
Office building age
The building age is crucial when it comes to office space demand. According to a Savills report, there are as many as 76 office buildings in Warsaw’s Służewiec, with a total of more than 1 million sq. m. of office space. Importantly, 21% of that floor space is currently vacant. Most of these office buildings are of an older type. These are much less attractive to prospective tenants than modern and innovative premises. And this forces landlords who own older buildings to make a decision – either lease at a lower rate or change the office buildings. For example, the owners of Marynarska Business Park chose the second option. They decided to do away with a large overground car park and to create a green park for Służewiec workers and residents in its place.
Number of tenants
Let’s imagine that 75% of parking spaces in office building X is rented subject to long-term agreements with tenants. 25% of spaces are lying idle and these resources remain unused. The office building landlord or manager can introduce a revolutionary change. It is possible to make those parking spaces not subject to long-term agreements available to employees of all the tenants for a given daily fee (for example 50% of the price an employee would have to pay for 8h in a nearby paid parking zone). This results in a more efficient use of the entire car park and generates additional revenue. Staff who do not get a car parking space as a perk can then park at their workplace without having to worry whether there will actually be a vacant space.
An office car park for everyone?
Over the recent decades, the car park use concept has evolved radically. Would it be possible for the car park at office building X in Warsaw to accommodate all those who wanted to park there? It is a bold idea. A number of important aspects have to be analysed. Let's assume that there is a school near the office building, where parents come for parents’ evenings. There are no public access car parking spaces anywhere in sight. However, there is an office building with vacant parking spaces, as staff are working remotely and anyway most of them leave the office in the afternoon. Why let parking spaces lie idle? The car park may be used by third parties in the evenings and during the night.
A car park as a mobile hub
In the coming years an office car park will be more than just a place to park a vehicle. Charging stations for electric cars, bikes and scooters will start appearing in car parks. Such charging stations mean that during the summer employees will not break H&S rules by bringing their scooters into the office to plug them into ordinary sockets. They will be left outside of the office in a secure environment to be collected after work with a fully charged battery. And this transforms the car park into a space not only dedicated to cars, but an eco-friendly part of the office building which is helping the green transformation gather pace.
Non-financial reporting
From 2024 onwards, companies will be obliged to publish ESG reports with details on the impact of their business operations on social and environmental matters as well as information as to the initiatives undertaken for a better world. On the office property market this may entail energy saving lighting, motion sensors which switch lights off in empty rooms or a system for re-using greywater. A certain framework of an eco-friendly office building have already been sketched out. And what about the car parks? Car parks are also in for a metamorphosis and will have to become greener. Environmentally friendly car parking flooring has to be used in order to be eligible for a BREEAM eco-friendly office building certificate. Resin flooring with a low content of volatile organic compounds satisfies the above requirements. Such materials were used at the Warsaw Spire office building for example.
It is also worth noting that modern car park apps make it possible to reduce the traffic generated by cars looking for a place to park and encourage the use of alternative forms of communication for commuting to the office as employees will know before departing from home whether or not they will be able to park at the office.
PropTech technologies
Technology is an inadvertent part of everyday life. The lives of our grandparents were considerably different from the habits of let’s say generation Z. The real estate market also underwent such changes. It should be noted that this market sector is not changing rapidly nor drastically. It may be compared to an oil tanker, which is labouring to slowly change its heading. And as such, the much needed changes to the real estate market are gradual. Tenants undoubtedly prefer more innovative workplaces. Technologies in office buildings encompass tasks such as booking desks, rooms, car parking spaces or smartphone enabled room access.
Summary
The rapidly changing workplace environment, climate changes as well as new legislation all have an impact on the office real estate market. The office car park is also seeing eco-friendly and functional changes. It is no longer perceived as just a space to park a car, but also as a space which should be efficiently used by tenants. And now landlords and property managers are facing a major challenge: how to adapt a car park to the rapidly changing world.
