π The Video Summary
This Week is sponsored byβ¦Syncaroo!
Syncaroo shares how they’re teaching data-syncing technology to understand more languages, so you can connect your flex space with even more platforms, services, and opportunities.Β
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β Coworking impact.
πΊπ¦ How to directly support coworking leaders in Ukraine
Helga Moreno shares 3 examples of how coworking spaces in Ukraine (FuturaHub, Startup Depot, and WORKIT) are still actively supporting local and refugee communities within a warzone.
The article also shares a curated list of local coworking spaces that accept online bookings and invites other coworking leaders from around the world to directly support these spaces by buying day passes or memberships via the provided links.
If you run a booking platform or would like to support these local coworking spaces through your favorite booking platform, please reply to this email or contact me.
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πββοΈ Platform + local educational org partner up in London
Booking platform Flow and non-profit Urban MBA have partnered up to support young people in developing their ideas and to start their own sustainable commercial and social businesses. The formal partnership means all alumni will receive Β£500 in credits to access 50+ coworking spaces, gyms, spas, and experiences in London.
Love this tie-up between coworking (and other) access and hyperlocal entrepreneurial support.
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Coworking news & views.
πͺπΈ Lessons from building a local coworking community in Tarragona
Laia Benaiges shares the backstory of La Magrana, a coworking community in Tarragona, Spain with Marc Navarro.
It’s a great read and features IKEA causing local furniture stores to close, a photographer referencing “those spaces in New York with people working”, the Coworking Spain Conference, a difficult beginning and the formation of Leca (a legal consultancy for coworking spaces in Spain).
π Read this.
π An ode to a coworking community
Amy King shares a lovely post reflecting on, and thanking, her community for helping Good Coworking survive the pandemic.
The post also highlights that “the coworking industry is back and soaring as the newest and coolest way to get work done.”
It is, isn’t it!?
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π€ Behind the scenes and decisions of the Common Desk acquisition
Nick Clark and Peter Greenspan share more details around WeWork‘s acquisition of Common Desk (announced in w4/22).
An interesting look at how and why things unfolded the way they did, from the first Zoom call to the motivations for the strategic move from both sides.
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π» Coworking technology.
π² Virtual Office platform also gets merged into “Global Marketplace”
Following on from last week’s IWG + The Instant Group merger ‘thing‘, this week we see Davinci Virtual Office Solutions also being merged into the new entity that is being promoted as the “Global Marketplace for Flex Space”.
For folks keeping track, IWG was already a Β£2.1M (~$2.7M) investor in Davinci since 2016.
π Read this.
π± 5 amenities coworking spaces need for the ‘metaverse’
Even though metaverse is only in its infancy, it is already impacting the coworking space industry by creating new hybrid physiverse/metaverse business models that allow coworking space providers to take advantage of this emerging trend.
This article explores five pieces of technology and amenities that future coworking spaces will need to plan for, in order to offer competitive metaverse services.
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Coworking data.
π«π· Flex space demand up 23% in France
Sarah Colwell shares that demand for flex workspace across France is up 23% in 2021.
A key takeaway from her summary is that the surge is coming from both an increase in tech startups and a growing number of large enterprises leveraging flex space in their workplace strategies.
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π§π¬ Snapshot of the 490k sqft of flex space in Sofia, Bulgaria
Cushman & Wakefield Forton share a snapshot into the coworking sector in Sofia, Bulgaria.
They note that 2 out of 3 new tenants are seeking or interested in flex office solutions and that there is already 45,580 sqm (~490,619 sqft) of flex workspaces in the city, with another 2,500 sqm (~26,909 sqft) opening in April. Interestingly around 75% of available flex space is located outside the central regions of the cities.
Data from OfficeRnD also notes that 84% of flex space in the city (offered by customers of their management software) is private offices and of the total availability 12% are dedicated desks and 4% are hot desks.
π Read this.
Coworking market moves.
π¬π§ Merger to create 3.1M sqft flex office space provider.
CityAM shares that The Office Group and Fora plan to merge in a bid to become “the premier flexible workspace company in the UK and Europe”.
Although the deal still needs to get regulatory approval, the merger would combine 72 locations into one portfolio. No financial terms have been announced but Olly Olsen will become exec chairman and Enrico Sanna will become CEO of merged entity. Charlie Green will become president and oversee real estate & Katrina Larkin will be chief environment, social and governance officer.
π Read this.
π½ Work & retreat co opens first Manhattan location.
Barnfox, who previously opened ‘connected community hubs’ in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills have announced their first Manhattan location and the introduction of its “Residencies Program” to help companies decentralize their workforce.
The network of “design-focused, community-driven work and retreat spaces” that bridge cities and getaway destinations has grown rapidly from 1 to four locations and launched Residencies in response to a 100+ member waitlist.
π Read this.
π¦πΊ Landlord + brokerage partner up to bring flex into $300M office tower
Goldfields and JLL are partnering up to launch a new offering within a brand-new $300 million South Yarra office tower. The tower will be home to The Loft, spanning 3,243 sqm (~ 3,243 sqft) over three floors. The first floor is set to open in May.
Tashi Dorjee, JLLβs head of flex space, Australia and New Zealand, noted that demand for pre-built offices, lease flexibility and collaborative spaces is increasing in the post-pandemic workplace environment.
π Read this.
π¬π§ Developer appoints flex operator to run incubator & innovation space
Morgan Pierstorff shares that 22 Bishopsgate have appointed NewFlex (an operator running 50 ‘space-as-a-service’ locations across the UK) to run the 14k sqft innovation space and incubator on the entire 7th floor of the 62-story sustainable building.
50 memberships in the space, which will be called The Exchange (or XCHG), will be reserved for small businesses with high growth potential, following an agreement with the City of London.
π Read this.
π Coworking conversations.
Jamie Russo and Giovanni Palavicini chat with Wayne Berger (CEO, The Americas at IWG) about his 8 years with the firm, and what the public flex space company is seeing and planning for next on the Coworking Everything podcast.
π§ Listen to this.
William Edmundson, Jerome Chang, Ashley Proctor, Shervonne Cherry, Nick LiVigne, Iris Kavanagh, Katharine Chestnut, Caroline Hecht, Bernie Mitchell, Rubin Beckner and other TWIC readers discussed last week’s biggest stories.
π§ Listen to this.
π Coworking events.
π Discuss this newsletter.
Mar 18: Join other readers on Clubhouse to discuss this week’s newsletter and the trends the links represent.
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β Convo: Nailing your coworking tours
Mar 25: How can you absolutely nail your tours and get visitors to convert to paying clients? Letβs chat about it.
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πΊπΈ GCUC North America dates announced.
May 17-19: GCUC North America returns to Seattle.
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πͺπΊ Coworking Europe ’22 dates announced
Nov 10-11: Coworking Europe, in person, in Amsterdam.
π Read this.