Phnom Penh to see a significant increase in strata-title offices

• 24 July 2019
• Local News
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With a decrease in supply of centrally-owned office space, Phnom Penh is to see a significant increase in strata-title offices over the next few years as more international developers are entering the market, according to an international real estate agent.

Speaking by telephone with Construction & Property Magazine on 19 July, Mr James Hewson, manager of international real estate agent CBRE Cambodia, said that international developers are beginning to take advantage of the strata-title market while centrally-owned offices remain a preferred choice.

According to CBRE’s latest Phnom Penh Market Report, over the second quarter of 2019, the strata-title market saw a supply of 20,323 square metres from Star City bringing the total net leasable area to 40,496 square metres in the stock market.

“The main driving reason why the developer will build strata-title office supply as supposed to centrally-owned is the fact that they can get their return on their investment more quickly,” Mr Hewson explained.

As of Q2 2019, the report noted that centrally-owned office supply saw a 3% downward correction, a decrease about 11,256 square metres of net leasable area. Currently, available net leasable area stands at 359,000 square metres.

“Because of our research, there is going to be a significant increase in strata-title supply over the next few years, and we have just started to see that wave of strata-title supply coming onto the market now,” Mr Hewson added.

When asked if this coming trend will pose any challenge for the centrally-owned office market, Mr Hewson maintained that centrally-owned offices still hold great potential.

“From our perspective as an international agency, we find that centrally-owned is still very much a preferred choice of people looking to lease space in an office building as supposed to strata-title and I think that [it] will remain the case for quite a while,” he said.

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