Office market gets on the nearshoring bandwagon; Monterrey, take advantage of the trend

The relocation of foreign companies —a phenomenon known as nearshoring— in Mexico raises hopes not only for the industrial real estate sector, but also for corporate buildings, after three years of pandemic and a wave of abandonments of workshops.

According to specialists, during 2022 it began to be noticed that, in certain markets, the arrival of foreign companies in the industrial segment also benefited the real estate office spaceTherefore, it is expected that in 2023 this effect will increase along with the growth of the nearshoring.

“All the good things that have happened in the industrial segment, all the companies that have arrived, all the expansion that we see, hopefully it will also have a positive impact on the office sectornot only installing the industrial plant, manufacturing or logistics, but also corporate,” said Alejandro Delgado, regional manager in Mexico of the real estate intelligence firm SiiLA.

For Delgado, although there have been signs of recovery in the office real estate sector of the country, it still continues with the oversupply of spaces, which began to be noticed even before the pandemic, so the impulse of the nearshoring it can be an incentive for a more dynamic improvement in terms of occupations.

According to data from SiiLA, currently the three most important markets in the workshop segment they continue with a considerable oversupply, since Mexico City presents an availability rate of 21.58% of its total inventory, Monterrey of 22.69% and Guadalajara of 24.65 percent.

Occupation doubles in Monterrey

One of the markets that begins to perceive the benefits of the nearshoring is Monterrey, Nuevo León, in which 65,805 square meters of workshops during 2022, which represented a growth of 122% compared to 2021, reported Pablo Quezada, partner and director of new products at the real estate analysis firm Datoz.

According to the platform, around 15% of the office space leased during 2022 in Monterrey corresponds to industrial companies (manufacturing and logistics) or that provide goods and services to the industrial sector.

Some examples of firms that have started operations in corporate buildings are: Cartepillar, TNT Carriers, Binex and Hunter Fan.

For Sergio Mireles, founder and general director of the platform, these figures are interpreted as a recovery of the Monterrey market, since it comes from an occupation of 20,000 square meters in 2020 and 30,000 in 2021.

“Some of the momentum for absorption comes hand in hand with growth in the industrial real estate segment, because a lot of the demand is from manufacturing companies that also have needs for workshops”, commented Mireles in a meeting with the media.

But the effect of nearshoring It does not end there, since Mireles explained that complementary service companies have also been installed to serve industrial companies. “As long as there is a record boom in industrial demand in certain markets, we believe that the natural growth in demand for office spaces”.

It is worth mentioning that the positive absorption, added to inflation, generated a 1.48% increase in the rental prices of the offices in Monterreystanding at an average of 322 pesos per square meter per month.

A different panorama in CDMX and Guadalajara

What has happened in Monterrey, Nuevo León, has not happened in the other important markets of workshopssuch as Mexico City and Guadalajara, Jalisco, which, although they have captured investment from new companies, the demand for corporate spaces has not had significant changes.

Mireles explained that the Mexican capital is traditionally logistics, and contrary to manufacturers, this business does not have the same need for corporate spaces.

In fact, gross absorption in Mexico City fell 6.3% (vs. 2021), in order to close 2022 with a demand for 213,400 square meters of new spaces in traditional format, which do not contemplate contract renewals, conversions of spaces, or coworking.

While in Guadalajara there was a decrease in occupancy of -23.8%, since in all of 2022 39,748 square meters were leased, mainly in the financial area and Puerta de Hierro.