The main real estate portfolios in periods prior to the pandemic focused their interest on properties of various types that were undergoing different economic cycles and among which commercial, industrial, corporate and hotel uses stood out, among those of greatest interest.

In June 2019, one year after the real estate platform Solili began monitoring the main indicators of the corporate market in Mexico City, the inventory of Class A and B buildings exceeded 10 million square meters with a vacancy rate of almost 13%.

Consult here: May 2023 Offices Report, demand from April-May 2023 is 15% higher than that reported in 2022

Quarterly demand in the capital was around 80,000 square meters and generated a margin of opportunities in various corridors to attract the main tenants who were willing to commit to dollar-denominated rental contracts with average terms of 3, 5 and up to 10 years. .

This occurred due to the convergence between multinational firms that were looking for a modern and emblematic building that could reflect the elements of their corporate culture in the property and institutional developer groups that interpreted that need. 

The work is carried out fully in person and technology has not yet permeated the real estate sector in the forceful way that was generated when the pandemic arrived.

Once the pandemic bursts onto the scene, it is at the end of the third quarter of 2020 that the Mexico City corporate market registers its most critical level of negative net absorption amid a vacancy of around 18.2%. 

Let us remember that at that time the high profitability generated by corporate assets attracted developers and investment funds that were still building projects that together reached one million square meters in the country's capital.

From then on, cities, companies, and workers began to undergo a metamorphosis that is reflected both on the demand and supply sides. It not only involves the space, but the term, the conditions of permanence, the name of the contract and a large number of factors that tip the balance towards the tenant and their needs.

Coworking, flexible spaces, the possibility of early deliveries of spaces, the inclusion of multiple mixed-use projects, and the presence of technology and connectivity at the center of office space govern the offer by mid-2023, where the average vacancy of the city still exceeds 21%.

Of interest: Main submarkets in the north of the country that attract industrial demand

Although the recovery of gross demand is a fact, it accumulates during the second quarter of 2023 the amount of 126 thousand square meters, developers continue to pay close attention to the balance between what is occupied and vacated in the capital. 

Although the numbers have been advancing compared to last year, they still trace adjustments in terms of the most demanded sizes and rental prices that have remained relatively constant so far in 2023.

Undoubtedly, this sector will continue to be an important opportunity for developers for 2023 and 2024 when part of the 700,000 square meters that are being built are already incorporated into the availability of the capital.