Flexible Workspace - Survival of the Fittest

New blog post by Rand Stephens

Co-working space, flexible offices, hot-desking, shared-open offices, communal office space – just a few buzzwords used to describe the latest trend to hit the office market that is appealing to tenants such as freelancers and startups because it provides flexible workspace and flexible lease terms. It’s also beneficial to larger companies in terms of “swing” space, providing easy options for the companies to ramp up or downsize, as needed. As the momentum continues, co-working companies will ultimately compete for supremacy. They will take on more space than demand warrants -- which may lead to a collapse, leaving a few survivors. Building owners need to be cautious about having too much exposure to co-working locations as tenants.

The new buzzwords are gathering a lot of attention, but the concept has been around for quite some time. Long before WeWork, there was Regus, which has an executive suite setup. Today’s co-working companies are a modernized version with upgrades and nuances that create a more collaborative work place. Regus had a successful run in the late 1990s, alongside the dotcom boom. (We all know how that ended.) It eventually fell victim to the economic downturn and was left with an over-supply of office space and was forced into Chapter 11. However, Regus (now IWG) survived and remains in business today with more than 40 locations in the Houston area and the largest flexible space provider in the country. Do today’s co-working companies have long-term staying power? Can they survive an economic downturn?

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