Working from home? Crisis? WTC Amsterdam only wants more office floor
Never go to the office again, after the home-working breakthrough during corona? On the contrary. According to WTC Amsterdam, the demand for office space is only increasing. A new tower has already been built and more to come, if it is up to the WTC.
The demand for office space is the reason that WTC Amsterdam has built a new tower, Tower Ten, in recent years. More office space will be added if the finances allow it and if it is in line with the Zuidas plans.
The WTC has built over four years on the new extension on the Beethovenstraat side, which wraps around the completely thickened stripped carcass of the previous D-tower like a winter coat and is interwoven with the changes. The complex, which is already the largest office building in the city, has been expanded with almost 30,000 square meters of office space. The new tower is of course good for 50,000 square meters, but old office floor was also lost during construction.
The first tenants moved into the new tower last week, to make quarters. And that feels strange, so shortly after the coronary set, working from home has become the norm in one fell swoop. That may be so, says Saskia de Nie of CBRE Investment Management (CBRE IM), which manages the WTC on behalf of real estate investors, “but that doesn’t mean less office space is needed. From a place to gather just to work have turned into a place to gather.”
Take law firm Eversheds Sutherland, which is exchanging office space in Buitenveldert for space in Tower Ten. The office wants to grow from sixty to one hundred employees. “The time of the desk with children’s photos on it is really over,” says De Nie.
But that does not mean that the time for non-committal work has arrived. “We certainly ask younger employees to be present ten days a week,” says Thera Adam-van Straaten, walking over the still bare-grey concrete floor where the law firm is pre-ironing. “You learn the most from working together.”
Highest rental price
More than half of the WTC expansion, which consists of a new 22-storey tower and three renovated parts of the old D complex, will be leased to 21 companies, including a luxurious flex office that takes up 9,000 square meters in one go. And that for an average price of 490 euros per square meter per year — the highest rental product in the Netherlands.
There is great enthusiasm for the rest of the space, says De Nie of CBRE IM. “We may be on the brink of a recession, but we’re not seeing it. For all the space we have in Tower Ten, we are conducting interviews with candidates.”
“Office users are looking for space in which they can grow or shrink, depending on their development. Our tenants are here because the WTC is on top of a public transport hub, because this is not just an office area and because of all the services provided in the WTC.”
Despite the expansion, the number of parking spaces in the garage will not be increased. “It is no longer possible to come to work by car.”
The WTC with all its services – of a realized much imitation. “We had an ABN office here, there is no longer a need for it. We have turned that space into a nursery and a new gym will be added. There are few office providers that offer all of them.”
“There are not many buildings where you can rent small areas on a regular basis, with the same services as we offer. Flex offices only offer this temporarily. We also distinguish ourselves from other tenants that we also have very small tenants.”
Not done yet
The addition of 30,000 square meters on balance to the WTC complex, the sum of lost old buildings and the much larger new construction, is not nearly enough for the building manager. Because the WTC is far from finished after the war of attrition around Tower Ten, says De Nie.
CBRE IM filed before corona already planning on on the south side, which lies right next to the A10 ring road and the railway line, an attachment on the upper towers will be transformed and raised just as rigorously as the D-tower, starting with the A-tower on the corner near the Zuidplein.
Those plans still exist, the CBRE director says, and they are being pursued. Alone not at the desired pace. Instead of more than a year, the full plan may take three and fifteen years. That lacks both building materials and construction personnel, but especially with the number next to the government with adjacent Zuidasdok.
Plans to lay the tracks underground and lay the tracks above them lying still for years. It now seems that progress is being made, although De Nie wonders whether there will be quick clarity about the planning of the Zuidas activities. Because the construction planning of the WTC is again related to this, because the two construction sites overlap.
tall hat
“We are also waiting for the Zuidasdok. Our plans were aligned with their schedule. But we still don’t know what will come out of that top hat. We have to make a decision towards the summer.”
Despite a looming economic crisis, according to De Nie, the WTC is not afraid to build even more square meters. “We have always had a vacancy rate between 4 and 8. We are now at 7. In all the years that the WTC has been in place, including the 2008 financial crisis, there has been enthusiasm for this type of office. This remains a beating heart that never actually needs CPR.”