Beijing Office Space in Short Supply

Beijing is running out of prime office space, defying critics and naysayers.

The Beijing Olympics encouraged a mass infrastructure and construction development project, with many investors seeing rapidly increasing potential in the city.

The city faced repeated accusations of having overestimated the level of demand for prime spaces, and of swiftly constructing space without due attention paid to best practices for efficient development.

Five years after the Olympics, and the capital city is experiencing a shortfall in spaces to meet demand, according to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

Marcos Chan, head of North China research at JLL, said "it's basically fully occupied. If you want to expand your business in Beijing, there is simply not much space available."

Vacancy rates are at 4.4 per cent - much lower than the rate that allows for natural market development. The city has "no option" but to build out further into the surrounding suburbs.

Plans for a new financial district at Lize have been proposed, as a viable means to ease the shortage. Other proposed office space solutions include a a number of satellite towns surrounding the capital, a new airport for Daxing, and the re-purposing of suburbs as hubs for specific industries.