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Coworking news & views.
๐ฎ 6 mega trends and 3 forecasts for 2024 #
Liz Elam shares her annual megatrends piece looking at what’s happening in the industry and what she believes we’ll see in 2024.
From the elephant in the room, to workplace hospitality, to nomenclatures, industry reckonings, the crowning of amenities, the impact of atrocities and the dirty little secret about coworking – its a strong piece with 3 solid forecasts for the next year.
๐ Read this.
๐โโ๏ธ Surfers don’t want remote workers hanging out all day either. #
Remember how we looked at Cafรฉs not wanting remote workers last week? Well this week, surfers in San Onofre (one of Southern Californiaโs most historic surf beaches) plea with remote workers to not make this their office.
๐ Read this.
๐ฌ๐ง BBC digs into WNH coworking hubs across the UK #
Dougal Shaw shares how coworking isn’t "going out of fashion" with highlights of UK local brands like Patch, ARC Club, Platform 9, Oru Space, and the Desana platform.
๐ Read this.
๐ก A few things WeWork got right #
Michael Przytula highlights some of the things that WeWork got right, despite their fall from Wall St. grace.
"despite all the things that went wrong at WeWork, I still think we should celebrate them for all the things they got right, even before the industry around them thought so."
๐ Read this.
๐ฆ Industrious front-row seat to the WeWork show #
Anna Squires Levine shares how they’d answer all those "sooo WeWork?" questions from their extended family.
The summary? This has been coming for a long time, and no, we werenโt surprised. No, this doesnโt mean coworking is a goner. The sector is having a banner year. The Industrious business model is based almost entirely on landlord partnerships, which is totally different from WeWorkโs model and is designed to de-risk our business for the long haul. To put it into perspective, WeWorkโs fixed expenses as a percent of revenue are still about 75% even after reducing their debt. Ours are about 35%.
๐ Read this.
๐บ What rental space can learn from airline seats #
Sam Gamble from ReturnSuite notes that as rental space is a perishable good, potential revenue lost forever and impossible to recapture. Just like airline seats. A great piece that digs into Absorption & Turnover Vacancy, and how landlords think about the tradeoff, vacancy and turnover especially with regards to Spec Suites.
๐ Read this.
๐ฐ WSJ calls it, “coworking isn’t dead” #
Ray Smith shares that whilst coworking isn’t dead, it may be far less corporate, noting that more and more workers are seeking a "third place". Places that don’t look much like WeWork.
_The piece highlights WeWork "competitors" SheSpace in Houston, efactory in Springfield, daypasses at Manhattan coffee shop Bedford Studio, Soho House’ Soho Works in NY/LA/London and The Malin in New York. _
๐ Read this.
๐คซ An insider’s view on the WeWork crash hype #
Brandon Resnick a Marketing VP at WeWork shares what it’s like on the inside of the news hype that’s surrounding the firms Chapter 11 filing, and what it actually means for them on a day-to-day basis.
๐ Read this.
๐ Can Cat(astrophe) Bonds grow coworking? #
Can the insurance industry offer commercial real estate a path to wider-spread adoption of coworking? Let’s dig into what Catastrophe Bonds are, and how they could help grow coworking adoption.
๐ Read this.
๐ฉ Common concerns with renting coworking space #
Marc Navarro takes an alternative approach in his latest piece for Nexudus, looking at what concerns individuals renting flex space may have.
As an operator, I’d note down these concerns and lock in responses or solutions to help close more deals if they’re ever raised as objections or questions in presale calls or on space tours.
๐ Read this.
๐ผ Conference puts all talks online #
OfficeRnD have put all the talks from their FlexWorld Series 2023 event on YouTube for everyone to watch and discuss. Panels included Hybrid Workplace Integration, Tech-powered strategies for max ROI, Payments and coworking, WiFi geekery and more.
๐ Read this.
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๐ป Coworking technology.
๐ Tool helps flex space teams never forget important tasks #
Syncaroo Assistant got an upgrade this week to introduce Alerts. The tool, currently in private beta, which already presents live data alongside any web app – now also gives marketing, sales, ops and exec teams access to customizable feeds of important changes across their business data.
Alerts also offer increasingly smart reminders for tasks that specific teams may need to then get done – and that’s just the beginning. How do I know? Full disclosure, I wrote a lot of the code powering Alerts in Assistant.
๐ Read this.
๐จ Gen AI set to generate up to $180B in value for real estate industry #
Matt Fitzpatrick, Vaibhav Gujral, Ankit Kapoor, and Alex Wolkomir from McKinsey & Company, dig into how generative AI may change the real estate industry. They state that "based on work by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), we believe that gen AI could generate $110 billion to $180 billion or more in value for the real estate industry."
When digging into pivotal action RE firms can take to realize full value of gen AI, they touch heavily on the importance of data, especially new proprietary data. They also note tools that promote action and modern data-driven tech stacks. This friends, goes for coworking spaces who want to win in the AI-powered future we’re racing towards. Have a read. Twice. And then let’s discuss?
๐ Read this.
๐ Why WiFi may be the best occupancy tracking method #
Bryn Sadler from essensys digs into 4 different methods for tracking occupancy within multi-tenancy spaces, namely IoT sensors, access control, apps and WiFi data.
WiFi wins out because it "requires the least effort to set up and provides the most valuable insights that go beyond โhow manyโ to โwho and whereโ which is fundamental in understanding how to run a flexible workspace more efficiently."
๐ Read this.
๐ค AI interfaces for booking space start appearing #
Dan Bladen shares how Kadence offers an AI interface to help users book meetings and spaces in half the time.
I did say back in April that AI bookings and Remote Work apps will both become bigger interfaces for how more and more people interact with your workspace, business and resources.
๐ Read this.
Coworking data.
๐ฌ๐ง The impact of Covid on London’s flex workspaces #
Jamie Dundas shares that after 18 months of interviews, surveys and in-depth case studies the report by Monday Works for the Workspace Advisory Group (set up to advise the Deputy Mayor and the London Economic Action Partnership) has been released.
In short: spaces had a really tough time during the pandemic, but were remarkably resilient they have been in adapting, and the vital role they played (/are playing) in Londonโs recovery.
๐ Read this.
๐ Take the Coworking Operator Survey #
What do managers and operators do all day? (Spoiler: everything). Coworks are asking you to help shine a light on the typical operator’s day with this quick questionnaire.
๐ Read this.
๐ 74% of CFOs are moving, or looking to move, into shared space #
Wayne Berger shares that recent IWG research has revealed that 81% of CFOs see hybrid working as a cost-saver, enabling them to eschew costly conventional leases and instead invest in flexible workspace.
Also noted was the as 92% of CFOs reported financial impact from economic uncertainties over the last year, 74% are moving (or actively looking to move) into shared workspace.
๐ Read this.
Coworking market moves.
๐ฝ Tishman takes back huge WeWork space in Queens #
Bisnow reports on how Tishman Speyer reached a deal with WeWork to take back 217k sqft at The Jacx in Long Island City. The space will be operated by the landlords’ Studio brand, with existing members being given the option to stay in the space for the duration of their previous agreement.
Interestingly members using WeWork’s All Access and On Demand program will also be able to use the space, even after the transfer of ownership. Could this be a sign of a move the AA/OD teams are working on?
๐ Read this.
๐ฒ Another restaurant-based workspace network launches in Toronto #
BYVI highlights Worksimply which transformed several restaurants into "vibrant Hubs where people can work alongside other remote professionals in a dynamic and collaborative environment".
_Although definitely not the first restaurant-based space or network of spaces, with membership fees starting at $19.99 p/month + a min. $10 spend at the restaurant, it’s an interesting spin to keep an eye on. _
๐ Read this.
๐ Could we see WeWork (temporarily) selling off crown jewels? #
Andrew Butler shares an interesting anecdote from the Regus turnaround through a US Chapter 11. In it the firm sold off their ‘crown jewel’, their UK business which continued to flourish. Once the US bounced back, they returned to buy back the UK business.
Could this be part of the playbook we’ll see WeWork use? Selling off profitable or steady parts of the network (like WeWork India for example) with the goal of buying them back ASAP.
๐ Read this.
๐ธ๐ช How one brand is expanding across regional Swedish cities #
Nordic Coworking shares a deep dive with Niclas Sรถรถr about DoSpace’s expansion from 2017 to 9 open locations, with 3 more in the the works.
๐ Read this.
๐ฌ๐ง Spacemade announces new Central London building #
Jonny Rosenblatt shares that Spacemade would be opening another building in partnership with The Howard de Walden Estate at 32 Welbeck Street in Central London.
๐ Read this.
๐ฌ๐ง DeskLodge launches new Bristol location #
Tom Ball shares some pre-launch behind-the-scenes footage ahead of DeskLodge Beacon Tower launching this week.
๐ Read this.
๐ธ๐ฐ Bratislava gets free coworking space, from IKEA #
Coworking Europe shares that IKEA are opening their second Hej!Workshop location on the continent in Bratislava, Slovakia.
"The news comes out after a successful launch of their first center in Stockholm last year. The free-to-access coworking space is located in Avion Shopping Park, a property the mother company of IKEA owns. Located on the 1st floor of the Commercial Center, the space will offer 16 workstations bookable online, all days of the week, and will be fully furnished by IKEA."
๐ Read this.
๐ Coworking conversations.
Ilia Kenigshtein from Creative Sates Kyiv City digs into creating havens of normality in challenging times, maintaining high occupancy rates amid the war, and unique child-friendly amenities on the Coworking Values Podcast.
๐ง Listen to this.
Scott Tillitt digs into his coworking journey (which started in 2009), lessons learned and some BTS on his Ambassador program with Jamie Russo on the Everything Coworking podcast.
๐ง Listen to this.
Lorena Caballero goes behind-the-scenes look at the co-warehousing, and other coworking-adjacent business models, with Gio and Jamie on the Flex Uncensored podcast
๐ง Listen to this.
๐ Coworking events.
๐ธ Creative revenue streams for coworking spaces #
Nov 17: Where are you leaving money on the table? โHow could you be more creative with the revenue streams in your coworking space? โLet’s chat about it.
๐ Read this.
