The Office Market in Transition: The Dichotomy between Real Estate Management and the Tenant

This thesis focuses on recent developments on the Dutch office market that affect organizational and financial decisions regarding the lease of office space. From both the perspective of supply and demand, it assesses how these developments contribute to a growing, qualitative mismatch between the intentions of the Real Estate Management Organizations (REMOs) that manage the supply of office real estate and tenants seeking to lease office space. The research performed in this thesis has shown that the size of the demand is expected to shrink short to mid-term, which means that the quantitative mismatch between supply and demand will not easily correct itself. It has also shown that there are various factors at play in shaping a qualitative mismatch. Its contribution to solving the current vacancy debate has come in the form of a list of topics that describe where a Real Estate Management Organization can improve itself to better meet the tenant’s demand. This way, it hopes to reduce the need for new office space, which ultimately contributes to solving the vacancy issue.