“It’s best to start at the beginning”
Over the past seven years we have conducted coworking feasibility assessments for numerous real estate projects around the world. Most of the projects have been with building owners and developers interested in diversifying their portfolios by ‘getting into coworking.’ Some are very optimistic about making a go at it, while others seem quite unsure about this coworking thing.
Regardless of the client’s level of optimism, we always like to start at the beginning. That is, is a coworking project a good idea in this particular building in this particular city? Thus the growth of our coworking feasibility business.
Gone Corporate
In the first few years, developers were looking to build coworking businesses for ‘traditional’ coworkers- freelancers, startups, solopreneurs, etc. Over the few years, though, demand for coworking has shifted significantly towards corporate users, who now make up the fastest growing segment of coworking members.
Yet, across the broader corporate landscape, relatively few companies have yet to embrace the coworking model (on campus or off campus), and there are still some pockets out there where people don’t even know that coworking is a thing. In these cases, it makes sense that they have access to a feasibility assessment process similar to that which real estate entrepreneurs have been using for the past several years.
The Corporate Coworking Feasibility Assessment
To address this emerging need, this week we have launched our Ten Part Corporate Coworking Feasibility Assessment. Combining design, utilization, behavioral, and financial metrics, we integrate a combination of CRE and HR insights to help firms determine if coworking is right for them. We provide an honest assessment and recommendations, and we understand that coworking will not be right for many firms. We do no hesitate to make a ‘No Go’ recommendation. For those firms where it does make sense, we bring to bear our ten years experience in the industry to help guide along the way. This might result in selecting a 3rd party coworking operator, or it might be in helping design and operate an in-firm coworking space of their. Just depends on the results of the feasibility process.
This article was originally posted on LinkedIn by OpenWork Agency Partner, Drew Jones, PhD.