Page 14 - BOMA Manitoba 2021 Commercial Building Directory

summer. Then some submarkets that
have been a drag on growth added a
year’s worth of drag over the summer.

When we take a step back and
consider the entirety of Winnipeg’s
office market this year, we saw
expansion in January, February and
March of just over 100,000 SF. Our
start to the year was our second-
best quarter in two years. Even with
225,000 SF of contraction through
the first six months of the pandemic,
our growth in 2019 still outweighs
our declines in 2020 to the end of
October.

Although the pandemic has had a early. That said, many businesses In the meantime, leaders pivoted
painful impact on the body of office- whose lease expired in 2020 or were to work-from-home, drew up plans
consuming businesses in Winnipeg, coming up in 2021 have negotiated for having employees come back
at the time of writing, we are short-term renewals rather than enter to COVID-adapted workplaces, and
certainly not against the ropes. Over into the common renewal term of worked through the many other
90% of office tenants have been five years. As a result, an increasing managerial and human resource
paying their rent and less than 1% number of expiries are building up issues resulting from the pandemic.
are seeking to get out of their lease into 2021 and 2022. These were the focusses of Wawanesa,
a Winnipeg-based insurance company
with numerous offices throughout the
city. In 2019, Wawanesa announced
they would be amalgamating their
offices into a fifth tower at True North
Square comprising 320,000 square
feet. Over the summer, 98% of
JOIN US AT THE RIDGE employees were working from home.
However, this is not seen as a secular
change. The company has said
Individual & Corporate Memberships Available publicly they remain fully committed
to the relocation scheduled for 2023
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and are currently in the planning and
design process.

“It’s the Economy, Stupid”
When market experts look to the
future for market performance, an
indicator they use is the sublease
market. If there is broad concern
for businesses downsizing at lease
expiry, then assessing the extent
to which businesses are seeking to
PROUD VENUE OF THE BOMA GOLF CLASSIC get out of existing leases today (ie:
sublease their premises) should
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14 Manitoba 2020 Commerical Building Directory