With 5 million m2 unoccupied, Île-de-France offices emptier than ever in 2024

In Paris and its inner suburbs, it is becoming increasingly rare to work in an office. Practices have changed since the health crisis linked to Covid-19. Both companies and employees have reviewed their way of working. According to a study carried out by ImmoStat and published Tuesday January 7, 2025 concerning Île-de-France, demand for offices is decreasing and supply is increasing. The vacancy rate reaches the symbolic milestone of 10% empty offices in the region.

Nearly 6 million m² empty

Like the La Défense district (Hauts-de-Seine), faced with an increasing vacancy of its offices, companies are packing up their boxes and evacuating the towers. Teleworking and flex office have reshuffled the cards for office real estate. For the year 2024, take-up decreased by 11% compared to 2023 to reach just under 1.8 million m². The immediate supply in Île-de-France reached 5.6 million m², i.e. an increase of 19% compared to last year.

A dichotomy is also confirmed between Paris and peripheral towns. The capital wants to be very attractive compared to its neighbors who are running out of steam. Out of 32 new projects launched over one year, 29 are in the City of Lights. “The office market in Île-de-France is going through a phase of profound change. If Paris continues to stand out for its attractiveness and resilience, peripheral areas must reinvent themselves in the face of the challenges of oversupply and an accelerated transformation of uses,” notes Pascal Souchon, partner at Deloitte, in a press release.

Corporate real estate consultancy JLL confirms: “The market remains extremely segmented between Paris itself and the outskirts, even if we have noted an increase in Parisian supply for a year now, with a vacancy rate now positioned at 3 .6% in the central business district of Paris [le 8e et une partie des 1er, 2e, 9e, 16e et 17e] and 13.7% in the 18th, 19th and 20th arrondissements. » In the inner suburbs, the vacancy rate rises to 23.5% and 15% in La Défense.

This decline in demand is not without consequences on prices. As ImmoStat points out, on a national scale, the overall amount of investments in commercial real estate for the year 2024 is 12.1 billion euros. That is to say a drop of 2% compared to 2023. In Île-de-France, investments amount to 5.4 billion euros and fall by 23% over the same period. The average price of offices purchased in the region decreases by 9% in one year.

Conversions to hotel management

In fact, the construction or transformation of apartments or buildings into spaces dedicated to businesses lacks sense in a context of structural oversupply. Especially since there are numerous logistical, administrative and financial obstacles to changing the use of a building. According to the study carried out by Deloitte, most office conversions are mainly oriented towards hotel accommodation. “The transformation of offices into housing remains quite limited with only 25,000 m² being transformed, or between 325 and 375 housing units. »

To stem the situation, the Paris Council adopted a new local urban planning plan (PLU) last November. This aims in particular to increase the number of housing units in the city by reducing the share of offices. For this, 800 addresses have been identified in particular to create social housing “of which more than a third concerns office buildings”, indicates the municipality.

A design in contradiction with the Triangle tower project which has been growing for two years within the Porte de Versailles exhibition center. This 180 meter high project divided into 42 floors will accommodate 70,000 m² of workspace. Described as an “energy-consuming juggernaut” by the mayor of the 15th arrondissement and an “above-ground” project by elected environmentalists in Paris, this new skyscraper must nevertheless open its doors in 2026.

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