What City Is Priciest for Office Space in the World?

With data from CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield, COMMERCIAL Café, a US-based commercial real estate listings platform, has compared the priciest office rents in the world to those in the U.S.

According to the comparison on January 25, the office rents of central business district in Seoul stand at the 16th position in the world with an annual average of US$73 per square foot. 

Seoul is almost 50% more affordable than Manhattan, New York (US$153 per square foot), and 50% less affordable than downtown San Diego (US$35) and Denver (US$36) in the U.S.

Central Hong Kong is the most expensive office destination in the world, the average annual rental rate is US$269 per square foot or $22 per month, with office rates 55% higher than in Beijing and 75% above rates in Manhattan.

Among the top 30 priciest office destinations, 11 Asian cities are listed, including Hong Kong (Central, 1st with $269), Beijing (Finance Street, 2nd with $174), Tokyo (Marunouchi/Otemachim, 4th with $132), Shanghai (Pudong, 5th with $120), New Delhi (Connaught Place – CBD, 6th with $110), Mumbai (Bandra Kurla Complex, 9th with $84), Shenzhen (14th with $77), Seoul (CBD, 16th with $73), Singapore (19th with $68), Taipei (22nd with $60) and Guangzhou (26th with $55).

Dubai and Abu Dhabi of United Arab Emirates rank 8th and 23th, respectively, by posting US$89 and US$58 while Doha of Quatar stands at the 15th place with $76.5. 

In the meantime, the second-priciest U.S. office cluster is Silicon Valley, particularly San Jose. Annual office rental rates in the ‘Capital of Silicon Valley’ have reached US$111 per square foot–making San Jose the only city outside New York where yearly office rents surpass the US$100 mark. Even so, office rents in San Jose hover 28% below those fetched in Midtown Manhattan, and are 36% lower than those commanded by Beijing’s Finance Street.