Vast Coworking Group saw a 21% increase in sales and a 16.5% increase systemwide membership across its Venture X and Office Evolution brands in 2023. The company also opened 11 new locations (9 Venture X; 2 Office Evolution) and added 295,578 square feet to its global footprint across both brands.

The group also promoted several longstanding leaders to its executive team, including Paula Mercer (to Vice President of Vast), Tammy Senter (to Vice President of Operations, Venture X), Brad Johansson (to Vice President of Operations, Office Evolution) and Darcy Masciotro (to Vice President of Operations, Intelligent Office).

In this snippet from a recent Preferred Office Network webinar, Bryce Hill from Office Evolution reminds us that "we all offer a health and wellness amenity, which is community" and how that helps fight the loneliness epidemic.

Yes Bryce. Yes!

PilotoMail share the challenges and frustrations of coworking operators like Peter Chee (Thinkspace), David Adato (Downtown Works), Channen Smith (Venture X and Office Evolution) and Tamara Payne (Ensemble Coworking) who have been trying their hardest to be compliant as CMRAs.

In news that was teased out over the weekend, Vast Coworking (that houses flex franchises Office Evolution and Venture X) announced on Monday that they’ve acquired Intelligent Office.

The acquisition adds 55 locations across the US and Canada to the group, bringing their total to over 190, servicing some 40k+ members. Jason Anderson, President of Vast, will lead the brand and oversee its ongoing development and growth. This big move puts the light back on franchising in flex, an area were IWG currently lead the pack with over 4,000 locations across their 14-or-so brands.

CoStart reports that via a partnership between Koelbel & Co. and Mark Hemmeter (who started Office Evolution), Work Simple has plans to "acquire and revitalize older office buildings in smaller and more suburban office markets across the United States."

An interesting move, given that very few networks fully own their buildings. Off the top of my head, I can only think of EXPANSIVE. Any others?