Commercial development in the Greater Bay Area set to retain and expand

In February 2019, Beijing government announced Hong Kong and Macau linkage blueprint with nine other cities in the Southern Chinese province of Guangdong into an integrated economic and business hub Greater Bay Area, The Investor reports.

As commercial real estate development hit Greater Bay Area decades ago, the development is set to retain and expand beyond the main hubs of Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The Grade A office market in Shenzhen is expected to double up from 7 to 14 million per square metres over the next five years. According to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), Hong Kong’s property market is expected to remain resilient running into the new year riding.

The mainland Chinese cities that will be connected with the new development are Guangzhou and Shenzhen as the largest cities in this area, also Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing.

Silvia Zeng, Head of Research for South China at JLL said that Shenzhen and Guangzhou are going to boost up their economies to the value chain. This effort is aimed to gain benefit from the increasing investment and expanding corporations in the economic hub, at the same time put many expanding corporations under pressure to attract and retain talent.

“Commercial buildings will need to be designed and built to cater for the future workforce. Developers should consider building not only green buildings, but also those that are designed with the health and well-being of the occupants in mind,” says Denis Ma, Head of Research for Hong Kong at JLL.

Based on JLL’s survey, most operating companies in the Greater Bay Area see Shenzhen as the most potential city for their business over the next 5-10 years. The continued development in Shenzhen, as well as Guangzhou, will further attract both domestic and foreign capital. The increasing workplace demand in the Greater Bay Area is projecting 22 million square metres of offices available over the next five years. ― Construction+ Online