Annie Draper from Hines joined Kurt Patrick (from essensys) and Gio on the Flex Uncensored podcast to talk more about her journey from Carr to Hines, the launch of The Sq Collection, trends and more.

Hector Kolonas chats with Annie Draper about the idea behind The SQ, how/why it’s evolved into The SQ Collection and how Hines is thinking about flex from the perspectives of product, tech, utilization and scalability on the the new and official TWIC LinkedIn page.

(PS. you can now also use this page to tag the team in interesting posts, ideas, or discussions you think we should share with the wider audience).

Hines, a globally recognized real estate leader has been a head of the pack on flex workspace strategy for quite some time. And now, it looks like it’s once again taken another big leap. Leveraging their own proprietary app, they have launched The SQ Collection (pronounced square). Here, they can offer direct to consumer access to a variety of services (flex workspace, onsite community teams, health and wellness amenities and even food and beverage.

This is a GAME. CHANGER. If you’re interested in learning more about this exciting and innovative play, be sure to check out our quick behind-the-news interview with Annie Draper here (or in the discussions section of the newsletter).

The Preferred Office Network share 5 key takeaways from their recent fireside chat between Isabelle Heston (JLL), Annie Draper (Hines), Tara McCoy (PON) and Devid Kinnaird (Essensys) about where traditional real estate and flex workspace meet.

The five points are: Data is driving the push towards coworking; different modes of work require more choice of workspace; coworking = connectivity; the efficiencies and savings of flex go beyond lease-terms; and coworking operators aren’t just tenants (they’re the heart of a building).

The always insightful Annie Draper shares how a future trend in CRE may be the incorporation of coworking-based elements (think community managers, amenities, programming, flexibility) into buildings in new and creative ways, creating new models and offerings.