Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa September 2015 | Page 55

a team of people for a project. Even our private office suites work on 3 month notice. Environment and workplace culture influence where people choose to situate their offices, and we have been very careful in choosing vibrant locations that offer great places and spaces to have coffee, excerise and socialise nearby. How does The Bureaux link to global office space trends – what are the key trends you are following? The global trend sees workplace sizes shrinking as living spaces tend to shrink and the power of corporations is rather rapidly shifting to the individual. Everything is online, everyone can work from anywhere. Shared office space is the future of the way we will work. We follow international trends with an acute awareness to the differences our local market requires versus the international market. Most South Africans still subconciously feel more comfortable with a more private work space than working across a desk from a total stranger and we ensure our spaces subtly produce the harmony to suit most peoples work space requirements. Why have you developed the Bureaux concept and where do you see it going? How much have you grown already and what’s in the pipeline? The Bureaux started as a casual decision to take up an office space www.reimag.co.za at The Woodstock Exchange. I was part of the development team of The Woodstock Exchange and decided rather haphazadly to take an office space, knowing that there was a great future ahead for this cleverly curated creative hub. As tenants chose to move on from the Exchange to larger spaces elsewhere I took over spaces one by one to form what is now over 2,000sqm in this building. By carefully juggling cashflow and some negotiated leniency from the landlord , I was allowed to organically grow my business based on a growing demand. With a hunger to expand I fortuitously sat next to one of my now business partners at a start up conference and we realised there was great synergy. Within a few months we had agreed to join forces and expand the Bureaux into the newly developed Point Centre on Regent Road, Sea Point. One unit consisting of 14 privates suites became 3 units, within a few months, and we now have 30 private office suites, 40 allocated desks and 3 shared meeting rooms with an occupancy of 80%. Simultaneously we have opened The Bureaux I City Junction at 42 Hans Strydom on the Cape Town foreshore. Next we are looking to expand our offering in the City of Cape Town as well as reach into the Southern Suburbs early next year. What are your views on the Cape Town commercial property market and entrepreneurship? According to expert opinion there are currently over 20 buildings in the Cape Town CBD each offering over 1,000sqm in available space. Most demands for office space in Cape Town, according to the same source, are for spaces between 100-300sqm. This gap in supply and demand will naturally adjust. I believe there will be an increase in the amount of residential space in the city due to demand and some of these large spaces suitable to residential development. Once you understand which of these locations will work best it comes down to the ideal location that ticks all our boxes for success. It’s great to see entreprenurial development programs affording startups the opportunity to develop their dreams in a productive environment without any cost until they can afford to take up space elsewhere. We encourage these programs and are currently exploring ways in which we can assist and add value to these fantastic initiatives. RESOURCES Catalyst Marketing Communications SEPTEMBER 2015 SA Real Estate Investor 53