The real challenge isn’t finding a space, but finding the right one
If you are looking for a new headquarters for your company, you may be facing an apparently contradictory situation. On the one hand, the data shows a market with many available offices; on the other, finding a space that is truly suitable is taking increasingly longer.
Why? The problem is not the number of properties available, but their quality and, above all, their format. Today, companies are looking for offices that are ready to use or easy to adapt, well connected, designed for hybrid work, equipped with integrated services, energy efficient, and offered under contractual terms that suit rapidly evolving organizations.
In Europe, the average office vacancy rate stands at around 9%, but for Grade A properties it falls to 3.3–3.5%. Between 2026 and 2028, a shortage of 8.9 million square metres of high-quality office space is even expected. The space exists, but it is often not what companies actually need.
But a solution to this problem already exists.
The situation in Italy
- In Milan, the overall vacancy rate is close to 9.4%, while for Grade A offices it falls to 3.6%. - In Rome, the gap is even more pronounced: 6.8% compared with just 1.6% for higher-end properties. Meanwhile, prime rents continue to rise, showing that truly attractive spaces remain limited despite the abundance of overall supply. - Turin and Bologna also display the same imbalance: on paper, there is no shortage of properties, but a significant share of the existing stock no longer meets the standards required by modern companies.
The actual availability of a space is reduced by a long list of factors. These include location, the quality of building systems, the sustainability of the property, the layout of the interiors, the time required to make it operational and even the rigidity of the lease agreement.
In Milan, for example, more than half of the properties currently under construction are already pre-let before completion, while 70% of demand is concentrated on Grade A or A+ green buildings. This means that a significant proportion of the offices formally available never truly become part of the options considered by companies.
Even when a suitable space is found, the path to making it operational is often more complex than expected. In Italy, a commercial lease generally has a minimum term of six years, and early termination is only possible under specific conditions. In addition, there are the costs of adapting the premises, which in Milan and Rome can range from €850 to €1,600 per square metre, while the average fit-out cost across the EMEA region reaches €1,960 per square metre.
It is not uncommon for five to eleven months to pass between planning, construction work and procurement before an office is actually ready for use. For many companies, the greatest cost is therefore not the rent itself, but the time required to turn an available space into an efficient workplace.
Regain your flexibility
If your company is rethinking its workplace strategy, you are likely looking for spaces designed to support collaboration, well-being, events, training and hybrid work, with increasingly flexible solutions and environments that are ready to use immediately.
NOTONLYDESK was created precisely to meet this need, offering a network of fully operational professional spaces located throughout Italy and bookable according to each company’s actual requirements. We already provide access to more than 235 operational locations across all Italian regions, including verified workstations, meeting rooms, private offices and spaces dedicated to workshops and events.
NOTONLYDESK, NOD, gives you a single dashboard to manage coworking spaces across Italy, using Nodey digital tokens to book workstations, meeting rooms or private offices. If your company uses smart working, this directly concerns you.
Discover how NOD works and activate a trial for your team.
The right office exists. You just need to be able to use it immediately.
With NOTONLYDESK, you can access a nationwide network of fully operational professional workspaces, available to book flexibly. It is a solution designed for those who need to work, meet clients or bring their team together without the constraints of a traditional lease.
Coworking and workspaces starting from €22 per dayWith NOTONLYDESK you can book coworking spaces, workstations, private offices, and meeting rooms throughout Italy, with solutions starting from €22 + VAT per day and with no city-specific surcharges.
= 1 NODEY =
1 DESK WORKSTATION for the entire day, per employee1 MEETING ROOM for 1 hour, per employee
