Brad Hargreaves, founder of Thesis Driven, explored how three booming coworking concepts (Switchyards in the Southeast US; Work Heights in Brooklyn; and Patch in the UK) are proving that growth is coming from neighborhood-focused models that prioritize proximity over prestige.

These neighborhood models leverage cheaper Class B real estate, management deals with landlords, and eliminates large security deposits while targeting local community integration over business travelers.

The strategy reflects permanent remote work adoption and demand for community without long commutes, positioning multiple small neighborhood locations as more viable than single large downtown hubs.

Brad Hargreaves threw a metaphorical grenade into our feeds this week with a note titled "Coworking Must Rise from the Dead" and anticipating the resurrection of the "old coworking model" sharing that there’s "a WeWork-shaped hole" in what has become the "flex workspace" industry.

While the post circles around their experience (read: challenge) trying to find 3 affordable desks to rent in Manhattan, it looks at how so many businesses who started in coworking shifted towards private offices, top-tier amenities, and sometimes almost-astronomical prices per desk. Other brands mentioned include Industrious and The Malin.

The post raised a whole bunch of questions I wanted to ask Brad. Firstly, regarding the search, where did he look? Were any aggregators, AI search engines, or flex brokers involved? If so, what were the criteria and results? If not, why not? Brad, you know where to find us, let’s hop onto the pod and chat?

On the flip side, this does present a threat and opportunity for your space. If the Thesis Driven team, who are "plugged into the forefront of the future of work, managed office, and commercial real estate in New York" couldn’t find you or your offering, could less connected and CRE-experience growing businesses?

Jamie Hodari joins Brad Hargreaves on the Thesis Driven podcast and shares lessons from leading Industrious through the category’s volatile boom to a landmark $800M acquisition by CBRE—without ever calling it “co-working” [sic].

MaryAnne Gilmartin joins Brad Hargreaves on the Thesis Driven Leader Series podcast to discuss the future of NYC, placemaking and a 177 acre project in Baltimore.

Brad Hargreaves shared that Common and Habyt are merging to offer a combined 30,000 units in 40 cities across 14 countries. As we’ve seen in flex (both from operators and their tech), consolidation and M&A activity are on the rise, expect more of this deep into 2023.