We continue to expand our footprint and in 2023 we will open 5 coworking spaces focusing on AZCA.
Our general manager, Fernando Ramirez, confirmed in elEconomista.es that right now we are at peak occupancy, with a ratio of 84%, surpassing the peak reached just before the pandemic, in March 2020, when our coworking spaces were at 70% capacity.
“2022 has been a good year for the whole sector. Companies have made the decision to return to the office,” explained Ramirez, assuring that during the Covid crisis they touched valley in November 2020 placing us at 38% occupancy. “This figure was achieved thanks to the bonus plan of Merlin“.
The good figures for this year were not only in terms of occupancy, but also in terms of our expansion. “This year we have taken the biggest leap forward, expanding our space by 52%, with the opening of three new centers and three extensions of existing spaces” said Fernando Ramírez, who puts LOOM’s portfolio at 13 centers. Of these, nine are in Madrid and four in Barcelona, with a total space of 28,000 m2.
This year we aim to continue growing with the forecast of three openings in Madrid and two in Barcelona, which will total 12,000 m2, “to end the year at around 40,000 m2” says our general manager.
“In Madrid, we have a big focus on AZCA” explains Fernando Ramírez. The first to open will be Castellana 85. A building that has just been completely refurbished to become the headquarters of Accenture and Elecnor and which will have a LOOM floor of 1,800 m2 and is expected to open on January 15.
At the end of the year the company will open another center in its building, also under renovation, at Plaza Ruiz Picasso 11. “In this case there will be two floors totaling 4,400 m2, although one will be for coworking and the other for events, which will serve the entire building and also third parties” explains Fernando Ramírez, who says that the rental of spaces for events already accounts for 10% of LOOM’s turnover.
The third center “that we are analyzing in Madrid is located in a Merlin building in Campo de las Naciones, as it is an area where we see great potential since there is still not a large supply of flexible spaces,” points out our director. On the other hand, in Barcelona we will open a space in 22@ and another in a third party building. All these openings will involve an investment of around 7.5 million, while those of 2022 involved an outlay of 11.5 million.
On the other hand, Fernando Ramírez highlights that one of the changes following the pandemic has been the “exponential leap experienced by the corporate client, which currently represents 72% of the business”. Its client ecosystem includes companies such as Pepsi, Wella, the European Union, JLL and PwC.
This increase in demand is due to three factors. “One of the sources of demand are corporations that have been ostracized from online working, have now returned, but abandoned their office and now do not want to tie themselves to long-term contracts” explains Fernando Ramirez.
The second source of demand, “which is more stable”, is “the peaks of activity in which companies need a temporary space solution and there is currently a lot of demand in this area”, says our director.
Finally, the third area of growth in corporate demand comes from companies that want to relocate certain business units within the corporation from their headquarters. “These are usually innovation units that leave more bureaucratic spaces and move to more inspiring spaces” explains our general manager.
