At the end of 4Q 2021, gross corporate demand at the national level, of the eight markets that Solili monitors in Mexico, grew on average by 26%, although in the country's capital the accumulated gross demand during 2021 was just over 330 thousand square meters, a figure very similar to that registered during 2020.

This low growth of the capital was influenced by the gross demand of the first quarter of 2020, where 172 thousand square meters were registered, which still came with the momentum of the period prior to the pandemic.

Let us remember that various international real estate consultants projected in mid-2020 that the increase in work from home would not necessarily equate to lower demand in the medium term.

However, having found a large number of markets worldwide with a significant oversupply, the situation generated two forces that moved in the same direction: the contraction of demand and a large number of spaces that were ending and vacancies entering the inventory.

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Another indicator that is added to the equation was the vacancies that reached their maximum in 2020 and part of 2021 but that have been closing gaps and allowing markets such as Mexico City to already indicate positive net demand figures such as the 67 thousand square meters registered the 4T 2021.

However, there are various factors that affect the recovery of demand, the first is intrinsically linked to employment and the economy.

In times of recession, the demand for the office decreases as employment levels fall and companies manage their liquidity as the most precious resource.

During 2021, Mexico recovered a large part of the jobs lost during 2020 due to the Covid-19 crisis, although this reactivation has been generated under conditions of informality, so the development of this indicator during 2022 will be key in the recovery of demand. of offices.

In the Mexican case, the factor of the economy has two readings, such as the recovery of the internal economy along with the recovery of the American economy, since many multinationals on Mexican soil are directly linked to the neighboring country, either because of the origin of the capital or because the goods will be demanded there.

Another factor will have to do with the evolution of the face-to-face return where we observe a strong component of remote work throughout 2021, although for this year it would continue to participate to a lesser extent combined with the presence in the office, which encourages the hybrid scheme to which they have been adopted by many corporations.

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The face-to-face return, in turn, is closely connected to the transformations that the design of offices has undergone, where the occupational density is much lower than in the past since they must comply with the guidelines of social distancing.

Part of the transformations are a large number of already conditioned spaces that have increased exponentially in the offer as well as those destined for coworking models. An example of this are the new openings during 2022 of spaces by Wework in Guadalajara and the new building in Foro 4 of IOS Offices in the Bajío.

These factors, in turn, are correlated with the advances in vaccination, although to everyone's surprise, the new Omicron variant, which has turned out to be more contagious, has advanced in a large number of people vaccinated with complete guidelines, but it has been more innocuous, leaving the exception that the infected worker must isolate himself for a reasonable time so as not to continue the chain of contagion.

Finally, the significant impact of technology accelerated transformations in both connectivity and productivity measurement. We are aware that not all processes and tasks are likely to be carried out through the home office, but it is a reality that many tasks of a large part of the staff benefit from not having to go to the office every day.

Finding the balance between work and personal while allowing flexibility will be key to employee satisfaction. While the employer has already rethought and modeled a new physical space that will allow him to transmit the culture that identifies him.

The renegotiations of contracts and relocation of tenants are inclined towards buildings with advanced technology and environmental design that support the concepts of sustainability in the use of resources such as energy, water and transfers in the building, preserving the health of those who interact there.