Small to medium-sized businesses are driving the office leasing market in Melbourne’s CBD and proactive landlords are making changes to attract and retain tenants adapting to new ways of working.

Despite ongoing lockdown changes and density restrictions, the CBD market is proving popular with city-fringe based SMEs. According to Phillip Cullity, director of office leasing at Savills Australia, the CBD market is currently being driven by opportunistic businesses in search of value. Notably, enquiries have increased for spaces between 100 to 300 square metres that accommodate between 10 to 30 staff members.

“It is the small and medium-sized businesses that have flexibility to adapt to the post-COVID-19 leasing model in increasing numbers,” Cullity says.

“Businesses are making the office a more desirable place to be in order to attract staff to return. SMEs are looking at the bottom line and are favouring offices with a brand-new fit out so proactive landlords are offering these in response.

“The building at 10 Queen Street has continued to attract new tenants throughout the pandemic and it comes down to having a landlord that offers spaces that meet immediate tenant needs.”

Located at the south end of Queen Street near Flinders Street Station, the 14-level commercial office building owned by Riverlee features a range of offices with bespoke-designed fit outs that also encompass single-person meeting rooms, proving popular as video calls remain an enduring practice catapulted by the limitations of the pandemic. Purpose built for taking private phone calls, these rooms are approximately half the size of a regular office and feature cushioned walls for sound proofing.

Single-person meeting rooms have long been popular within co-working spaces but are now favourable for any business that has an open-plan format office and specialist office fit outs are available across the entire Riverlee portfolio of assets.

“Single-person meeting rooms used to only be for larger office spaces, or companies who could afford expensive fit outs, but now SMEs are able to access the premium amenity available. Particularly for medium sized businesses, these rooms provide flexibility for privacy and limit distractions in an open-plan office,” managing director at Riverlee, Kevin Lee explains.

Formal reception areas are also foregone for more refined office entries, as an increase demand for more defined waiting areas is favoured for efficiency post-COVID.

Positioned near Collins Street, 10 Queen Street comprises tenancies from 100 to 500 square metres and is home to tenants across various industries including IT, architecture, engineering and finance.  Brand new, fully fitted-out offices at 10 Queen Street are available for lease via Savills Australia and Colliers.

Learn more about leasing opportunities HERE.