Review of Tbilisi's business centers

When challenged with finding a place for your employees in Georgia, many pick the most obvious solution — renting an office in a business center. For objectivity's sake, we recommend you don't hurry and consider other options before making your final choice. As for those set on moving into a business center, we want to make your choice easier. To do that, we visited several of Tbilisi's business centers and come to you with our hot impressions.

We drove around Tbilisi, touring business centers, inspecting them, and talking to the administration. First and foremost, we evaluated the following aspects:

● location in the city (whether the staff will find it easy to reach it in the morning and leave in the evening)
● nearby parking lot(s)
● the building's structural features — ceiling height, window size, floor depth
● level of service — infrastructure, lobby appearance, employee skills
● quality of utility systems and equipment — e.g., the number of elevators, HVAC parameters (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning)
● attitude towards tenants — a well-formed proposal, customer focus, willingness to negotiate
 

We chose the business centers for our inspection at random, although we did try to represent properties of different classes. After all, some of our readers probably want an A-class business center, while others might be content with a humble office building with a security officer and an engineer.

So far, we've managed to visit and thoroughly inspect 5 business centers. We promise you to expand this list in the future, so you'd have everything necessary to make a well-informed choice.

Location

This business center has a convenient location not far from a subway station. It's also easy to reach by car, although finding a street parking spot might be a challenge. The remoteness from the city's infrastructure could be considered a problem, but it's fully offset by the presence of restaurants, retail locations, etc. inside the building.

Description

King David is a multi-purpose complex. Its two main features are an office center and a hotel. It also boasts supporting (infrastructural) functions: restaurants, a fitness center, a spa, and retail locations. Tenants get discounts for their services.
This complex is considered to be the highest class in Tbilisi, and it's not an accident.

Pros

The lobby makes a luxurious impression. It has two reception counters — for the business center and the Meta Business Hotel. There's always an administration and a security guard present. They speak three languages — Georgian, English, and Russian.

We noted high ceilings, panoramic windows, and efficient floor planning that allows to avoid losing useful space when setting up an office.

Cons

We didn't like long elevator waiting times. This issue leads to some tenants setting up smoke rooms right on their floors to prevent their employees from losing time on traveling up and down. It's hard to call that rational use of space.

Elevator halls were also a slightly unpleasant surprise — they are dark and low compared to other places in the building.

Still, King David makes an overall great impression.

Price

Different floors have different owners. There is no unified policy on rent prices. During our visit, we were offered a 200 m² space priced at $30/m²/month + a service fee ($5.2/m²/month) + VAT.

Location

To give you the right idea about the pros and cons of Pixel BC's location, we need to tell you a few words about the Vake district.

It's a modern, well-established area with fairly high-class accommodations. Historically, along with Vera, it's an old intelligentsia neighborhood.

For the last five years, it's been actively developed with new office buildings. It's not unlikely that Vake eventually becomes the next CBD of Tbilisi. However, there is one major obstacle to that: the area's poor transport accessibility.

There are no subway stations here: the closest one, Rustaveli, is definitely not within walking distance.

Ilya Chavchavadze Avenue is the district's main transport artery, but after a reconstruction, it's mostly geared towards public transport and pedestrians, leading to large entry and exit traffic jams during rush hours. It's not exactly convenient for the users of public transport, either. Most people have to make transfers to reach Vake from other parts of the city.
As often as not, locals sell or lease their apartments and move to the suburbs with no traffic and cleaner air.

Still, Vake's infrastructure is extremely well-developed. It has the best restaurants and stores with cutting-edge concepts.

A Vake office is prestigious but not especially convenient, especially for the staff. The luckiest people are those who both live and work in the area.

Description

The Pixel building was completed in 2010 but still looks modern. It's used for both offices and retail: outlets are located on the first floors with separate entrances into the trade zone and the office area.

The lobby is small and unpretentious but comfortable. It has an administrator speaking three languages, a security guard, and an access control system with turnstiles.

Office ceilings are just below 3 meters high. The offices are open-plan with walls made from demountable panels.

Pros

The elevators have no lines of people in front of them: 4 cabins with 14-person carrying capacity fully cover the building's needs. The infrastructure in the area is great — lots of cafes and restaurants where employees can have lunch. The on-premises shops are a bonus, too.
The list of tenants includes many international companies, which is an indicator of high-quality service and the landlord's willingness to negotiate.

Cons

Floor planning isn't as efficient as it could be. Due to its large depth, the elevator hall and the shared corridor are too big. Those spaces can't be put to good use, but you still have to pay for them.

Price

The rent is about $23-25/m²/month. On top of that, you'll have to pay a service fee of $3.2/m²/month and a reduced charge for using the common areas (if you aren't renting the entire floor). Don't forget about VAT.

Location

This business center is situated in the very heart of the city between two subway stations: Rustaveli and Liberty Square.

Issues with street parking are par for the course for the center. The property has an underground parking lot, but it's not exactly large and, naturally, requires a separate fee not included in the rent.

Description

The business center occupies a small, low-key building. It houses both offices and retail stores. The developer is planning on adapting even the currently occupied retail spaces into offices, as in a popular location like that, the demand for them is higher.

Pros

Other than a good location, we would mention the landlord's willingness to handle interior finishing — a standard package (painting, walls, ceiling, utility systems).

Cons

But there's a problem as well: so far, there's no clear proposal for tenants ready to rent an office. The property isn't divided into blocks, either (although you can make suggestions).
The offer we were given (a former retail space) felt better suited to a service company with a constant flow of visitors. The floors are too deep for an office — it's impossible to arrange natural lightning.

Price

Unfortunately, we were unable to receive a clear rent proposal.

Location

We've already described the Vake district, where this property is located. Needless to say, all pros and cons of Pixel's location apply to Axis Tower as well.

Description

The building is new, having been commissioned in 2020. Both its architecture and contents are sure to impress. It has a lot to offer: offices, apartments, a hotel, a fitness center, a spa, and retail zones. A well-developed infrastructure allows one to live and work hardly ever leaving the "tower."

Pros

We rated this business center as solid A class.
The lobby area is huge and well-lit, and the polite staff speak three languages. The offices are serviced by 8 out of 32 elevators in total, which is enough to eliminate long lines.
Floor planning allows to tailor office design to the tenant's taste: open space or cabinet-type. Moderate floor depth and floor-to-ceiling windows provide excellent workspace illumination.
We were especially pleased to see a specific proposal for tenants about preparing an office — a great presentation. Everything speaks to the developer's focus on customers.

Cons

Arguably, the parking index — 1/100.

Price

The rent is $23-25/m²/month + a service charge of $4.5/m²/month + VAT. Parking fee is $140 per month.

Location

This tower doesn't have the most central location, although it is situated on a popular traffic arterial of its district. As many as two subway stations, Delisi and Vazha Pshavela, are just a short distance away.

Description

City Tower is a superb business center that belongs to A class in all respects. A nice large lobby with a waiting zone, administrators, guards at the entrance — everything speaks of a high level of service in the building.

Pros

The business center is right next to the City Mall, one of the most important malls in Tbilisi. Thanks to that, there is no parking index whatsoever!
We immediately noticed extremely efficient floor planning: lots of open spaces, floor-to-ceiling windows, low depth, minimal losses on common areas.

Cons

A ready proposal on finishing seems to be an advantage. However, it's not exactly attractive — the tenant gets a rent-free period up to 3 months (depending on rented space), provided they take care of renovations. Therefore, you'll have to handle the arrangements yourself.

Price

The rent is approximately $25/m²/month + a service charge of $7/m²/month + VAT.
Compared to other business centers, the parking fee is lower — $100+VAT/place/month.

That's it for our review. Hopefully, it will help you find the right office.