Office space booms across Hanoi

The Ha Noi office market is thriving with new commercial infrastructure, leading to higher occupancy and decreasing rents, noted CB Richard Ellis Viet Nam (CBRE)'s Ha Noi branch.

The new emerging central business district (CBD) in the West continues to show considerable development, but on the other hand, the current CBD area around the Hoan Kiem District is also considered a favorable office location.

In the last 5 years, the number of Grade A and B office buildings have increased significantly from 35 units to 76 units, an increase of 117%. As a result, the availability of Grade A and B office buildings nearly tripled from 330,000 sqm to approximately 1 million sqm by the end of the final quarter of 2013.

This is a boom period for tenants, as high supply and low prices have created favorable conditions, and the tenants have a wide-array of available options that can match their expectations, according to Nguyen Bich Trang, the senior manager of the Ha Noi branch's Office Services.

For the Grade B market, CBRE also expects that this year, a further increase is inevitable. Regarding the Grade A market, the forecast looks less dramatic as the Lotte Center Ha Noi is the only upcoming Grade A development in Ha Noi.