Page 19
The Future of Commercial Buildings
Words Barbara Akinkunmi
The aftermath of COVID 19 propelled changes in e-commerce operations and working from home cultures, reshaping the real estate market. Alongside this, the rise in technological methods of communication such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom has grown rapidly. Many office and retails spaces remain empty due to these working cultural changes, so within this new normal, what will these empty buildings evolve into?
Commercial real estate from retail spaces to working office spaces have been prompted to adopt innovative repurposing space solutions. Following the new cultural changes post COVID19, developers and investors are seeking new and innovative ways to utilize existing empty buildings. Fewer people like myself are still buying goods in-store which can potentially become a permanent feature of post-pandemic shopping habits. Alongside this, mass homeworking still reigns as most companies have demonstrated that a considerable amount of the work that usually takes place in offices can carry on when they are closed. Some have discovered that employees can be more productive at home and enjoy the freedom of a more relaxed schedule.
JLL has stated that there are currently 40,000 vacant retail units across the nation and expect this number to double by 2026, as more retailers are relying more on e-commerce operations and more central delivery depots to fulfil their online orders. I believe that this opens the gateway for vacant retail spaces to be occupied by either new housing developers, businesses with flexible working operations and logistics companies looking for central delivery depots. The popular names such as Debenhams, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer are of the few whose former stores are now being repurposed for a future outside of retail. In Cornwall, planning permission has already been granted to turn a former M&S high street store into waterfront flats. John Lewis plans to turn 20 of its sites into new homes and half of its flagship Oxford Street store into office space.
In the Midlands, Urban Village Group is converting two former office blocks into a £54.8 million project for apartments. Although COVID hit the Industry way it did, it evidently provided a real opportunity for developers and local councils to make use of existing spaces across the UK instead of developing new brownfield sites.
The City of London also plans to create at least 1,500 homes from empty offices by repurposing them. Many of the city's largest enterprises, including the city's largest office occupiers, are anticipated to continue enabling workers to work from home for at least part of the week, while others are reducing office space. According to a five-year strategy to help the district adjust to "post-pandemic economic and social developments," the City of London Corporation plans to build the new dwellings by 2030.
Smaller mixed-use developments for delivery logistics have also been developed in residential areas rather than the industrial outskirts of Paris. The Hotel 'Chapelle International' is a prime example of savvy real estate strategy and the city's unique approach to logistics urban planning in the e-commerce era. The structure is a 484,000-square-foot mixed-use skyscraper with three stories of floor space dedicated to parcel entry, organisation, and exit. Historically, logistics centres have been located on the outskirts of major cities, but projects like these, developed by the Paris-based developer 'Sogaris,' are paving the way for other worldwide developers to get innovative in real estate.
Overall, COVID-19 has shifted the living and working habits of several people which imposed consequences on several spaces within Britain’s cities. From my observation, the most suitable solution for cities right now is the repurposing of retail and office spaces where necessary. Employers’ decisions to lessen worker density in prime core office spaces will reduce the demand for larger office spaces, hence opening up the opportunity for larger spaces to be converted into repurpose developments. I look forward to seeing what the future of office and retail spaces will be and how cities will continue to evolve in response to natural events that change our working and living culture.