[bctt tweet=”A new report from Avison Young’s UK arm has found that some landlords and investors are still wary of leasing space to coworking providers, especially in light of WeWork’s failed IPO.” username=”allwork_space”]
The report finds that the slowdown of economic growth and uncertain political climate could lead to more demand in shorter leases and increased flexibility, making it harder for landlords to lease space that competes with service offices.
Additionally, the report said that many coworking providers lease space via a separate Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), giving them more flexibility, but increasing the landlord’s risk.
In order to decrease risks for landlords, Avison Young suggests landlords enter into a management agreement with coworking operators. For example, Industrious and Convene are two providers that largely operate on these types of agreements.
Offering a fully built, “plug and play” space allows tenants to experience the space, speed up the move-in process and help reduce “void periods” from 6 to 12 months, down to one to three months.
Overall, building owners could benefit from including serviced offices by building customer loyalty and essentially “incubating its own future tenants” according to the report.
