The result of Rio’s office market still awaits Caixa Econômica Federal’s devolution of which holds about 47 thousand square metres of the Almirante Barroso Building in the Center. According to a company’s market statement, the company intended to return the office in 2020. However, it was not authorised to deliver the space in November because it would not have met the contractual requirement to deliver the property in the same infrastructure conditions it rented FII Edifício Almirante Barroso. Caixa intends to move to just about 10,000 square metres in Aqwa Corporate.

The return of Caixa has the power to cause a huge negative impact on the Rio market. Just remember that the segment closed the quarter with a net balance of -9,666 square metres, the most affected region being the Center, whose net balance was negative 12,741 square metres in the fourth quarter.

According to SiiLA Brasil’s monitoring, there were few entries, but many exits, mostly from tiny areas, 800 square metres or even less. “Most of the returns seen in the period were from spaces that companies decided to reduce, preserving the original address of the total occupation. Total returns were really few”, says Giancarlo Nicastro, CEO of the company.

The most expressive departure was from Finep (a public agency that finances innovation), leaving 4,500 square metres of Ventura Corporate. The National Academy of Medicine (ANM) left 2,130 square metres of the Álvaro Cumplido de Sant’anna building (in the Center).

The gross absorption of office space in the city was relatively modest in the last quarter of the year: only 16,318 square metres. It is worth remembering that the city has not received new stock for over two years, and the possibilities were played only for 2022 and 2023 in the Porto region.

Grupo Soma (retailer) carried out the main occupation in 2,600 square metres of the Centro Empresarial Urca (in the Orla region). Other movements with a similar profile took place in the period. Stone Payments, for example, continues to rent more floors from Passeio Corporate (Centro). This time, there were over 1,900 square metres. TAG and GSK leased 1,500 square metres each, respectively, at Ventura Corporate (Centro) and Le Monde (Barra da Tijuca).