COLLIERS RADAR OFFICE | RESEARCH | SEOUL | 11 DECEMBER 2020 Judy Jang Associate Director | Research | Korea +82 2 6325 1918 [email protected] Robert Wilkinson Managing Director | Korea +82 2 6325 1901 [email protected] A GREAT RESHUFFLING OF THE SEOUL OFFICE MARKET IS UNDERWAY Seoul office market outlook and major trends COLLIERS RADAR OFFICE | RESEARCH | SEOUL | 11 DECEMBER 2020 Summary & Recommendations Growth in flexible Financial tenants Decentralization has become a prominent workspace demand planning for upgrades trend in the Seoul office market. The Catalyzed by Covid-19, the flexible As new supply increases in Yeouido, original structure of the market was workspace market is rapidly growing the Wall Street of Korea, major local defined by three industry clusters and the as demand for shared and distributed securities companies and financial three key submarkets of Gangnam, offices increases to meet the needs of groups are planning to relocate their Yeouido, and the CBD. The market is companies seeking flexibility offices into new buildings. changing shape as major companies against economic uncertainty. increasingly move between submarkets and as public institutions relocate out of the city. In addition, Covid-19 has prompted more companies to establish The spread of New submarkets shared offices and satellite offices, causing decentralization to accelerate. satellite offices taking shape > We expect tech tenants to continue to New office areas such as Pangyoand prefer the Gangnam area. We Unlike the past when all employees and groups worked together in the Magok are on the path to being recommend tech tenants to watch for same CBD office buildings, major office markets, joining the leasing opportunities created by ​​large companies are actively establishing existing three major office corporations relocating out of the GBD. satellite offices closer to where submarkets: the CBD GBD and the YBD. > Beyond the GBD we recommend tech workers live. tenants consider the Pangyoarea for expansion and for biotech-industry tenants to consider Magokdistrict as increasingly viable alternatives. Tech tenants Public institutions are > In 2021, with new buildings scheduled continue to grow moving to the suburbs for completion, we expect a tenant- friendly market to persist in Yeouido. Due to Covid-19, leasing activities of After the first public institution Therefore, tenants should leverage traditional companies (i.e. relocation policy was completed, the opportunities to save costs, such as manufacturing) have decreased, Korean government is discussing a rent-free periods for new office while leasing activities of tech second round of relocations. tenants. tenants, especially fintech and This holds potential to open up e-commerce companies, space for other companies to remain active. expand into. 2 COLLIERS RADAR OFFICE | RESEARCH | SEOUL | 11 DECEMBER 2020 In 2020, the Korean office market was affected by oversupply in Yeouido and YBD Covid-19. These factors led to stagnant demand for office leasing in About 57,000 sqm of office space at the Yeouido MBC site development area traditional industries such as manufacturing. Despite economic uncertainty, leasing demand from tech tenants has remained steady. Also, many is scheduled for redevelopment by 2022. In 2023, we expect 142,087 sqm in TP Tower (Teachers’ Pension office building), to become available as well. companies have adjusted their leasing plans to incorporate satellite offices When reconstruction of TP Tower is completed, Teachers’ Pension, currently to prepare for the post-Covid-19 era. leasing space in the FKI building, is expected to lease floors in the new In addition, the finance industry tenants are actively involved in leasing building, with the remainder to be leased out to other tenants. The YBD activities to seize opportunities before a wave of supply hits Yeouido. We vacancy rate reached a record high in 2020 as newly-built Parc 1 and Post recommend tenants monitor the key trends of the Korean office market and Tower in Yeouido experienced difficulties filling vacant spacesince 2H20. modify their leasing strategies to follow the post-Covid-19 trends towards Starting in 2021, the outlook for the YBD vacancy rate hinges on how quickly greater decentralization. newly-built prime offices can find new tenants. MARKET OUTLOOK BY SUBMARKET Submarket Property Area (sqm) Completion Note CBD K Square City 39,624 Q1 2021 Renovation (Citibank Headquarters) K Square City (formerly Citibank Headquarters) is scheduled to complete after remodeling in 2021. As new office supply decreases after 2021, we Bongnae District 1 40,410 2023 Redevelop expect vacancy in the CBD to continue to stabilize. The CBD vacancy rate CBD may rise once again following the planned consolidation of Hana Financial Gongpyeong 15,16 district 116,020 2024 Redevelop Group to the Incheon city in 2023 and redevelopment office supply around the Seoul Station, Seodaemunand Euljiro areas. Euljiro 3-ga 12 District 45,025 2024 Redevelop GBD Center Field Building 168,956 Q1 2021 In the GBD (Gangnam) area, the Center Field Building (the redeveloped (Renaissance redevelopment) Renaissance Hotel) is scheduled for completion. Due to limited supply and GBD steady interest from IT companies, we expect stable vacancy rates going Hyundai Motor Company forward. From an investment standpoint, Colliers expects the GBD area to N/A 2026 Building remain the most competitive investment market in Korea. In 2021, we expect large office relocations to influence the vacancy rate. When Doosan KB Financial Tower 67,683 Q4 2020 Heavy Industries & Construction, currently located in Gangnam Kyobo Tower, Post tower 69,103 Q4 2020 moves to a new building in Bundang, 17 full floors of Gangnam KyoboTower MBC site are slated to become available for leasing. 57,000 2022 YBD (Redevelopment) In the long-term, Samsung Group is planning to re-develop Seosomun Building (formerly JoongAng IlboBuilding) owned by Samsung Life Insurance. TP Tower Upon its completion, we expect financial affiliates of Samsung Group in the (Teachers’ Pension Tower 142,087 2023 GBD to relocate to nearby CBD buildings. For example, Samsung Fire & Development) Marine Insurance, which occupies most of Samsung C&T SeochoTower area Source: Colliers International is already planning for relocation. 3 COLLIERS RADAR OFFICE | RESEARCH | SEOUL | 11 DECEMBER 2020 FLEXIBLE WORKSPACE EXPANSION Business strategy changes for shared office operators Instead of leasing and operating the spaces directly, shared officeoperators Increased need for flexible workspaces driven by are opening new locations by signing direct partnership agreements with landlords. Once the building owner builds out a shared office at their own uncertainty expense, the shared office operator operates the space and shares profits Covid-19 has caused uncertainty in the market. Flexibility is becoming a with the owner. We expect this strategy to gain further traction. critical factor for businesses to respond rapidly to changes in business Korean shared office operators are cooperating with asset managers to environment. As more tenants seek flexibility in lease agreements as a create new business models. They participate as investors starting from the hedge against economic uncertainty and cost, the need for flexible development stage. In fact, Fast Five and Mastern Asset Management are workspaces has increased. planning to develop shared office and retail complex buildings at Garosu-gil Local shared office operators lead the market in Sinsa-dong. The emergence of custom-made shared offices designed for satellite office Unlike WeWork, which is in the process of reducing its presence in Korea, or remote office use is a new trend in Korea. Unlike existing shared office Korean flexible office companies, such as Fast Five and Spark Plus, are locations in major submarkets, shared office operators are opening new continuously expanding. Fast Five, the biggest player in Korea by number of offices closer to major residential areas in major cities. Recently, new shared branches, has plans to open its 80th location within three years and is office operator Jipmusiltook the concept of distributed work and is planning preparing for an IPO. to open six branches in 2020. Major flexible workspace operators In the future, we expect shared offices to further expand and evolve into Company Name Number of locations different variations for specific tenant groups. Fast Five 27 WeWork 20 Expecting continuous growth Spark Plus 16 Currently, about 3% of Grade A office space is occupied by flexible workspace IWG (Including Regus and Spaces) 13 operators. JustCo 5 The Executive Center 5 Due to increased demand for satellite offices by large companies, we Source: Colliers International, October 2020 expect that demand for shared offices in Grade B and suburban buildings to rise faster than in Grade A buildings over the near term. In Operators providing services to large companies the long term, we expect demand for shared offices to rise further as companies diversify their way of working. We expect this to lead to Due to the impact of Covid-19, tenants looking for flexible office space are more combined services such as shared kitchens and shared housing. requesting more security and independence within the office rather than a tightshared community designed for easy networking with other tenants in In addition, we expect competition the office. Recently, a new service is attracting attention. Office operating among