Coworking’s Continuous Growth To Be Put To The Test

Yardi Matrix’s “Shared Space: Coworking’s Rapid Growth Set to be Tested” report was released in October. The findings revealed that coworking has continued to grow this year, despite uncertainty clouding the industry.

As of September, coworking reached a footprint of 93.2 million square feet, taking up 1.7% of office stock in the top 50 U.S. markets. Manhattan led the country in growth, adding 4.1 million square feet, or a 31.1% year-over-year increase, of coworking space since Q4 2018. 

This massive growth is largely due to the increased popularity of the gig economy, the tech industry and corporation’s adopting more flexible arrangements.

Now, suburban areas are seeing more coworking spaces enter their markets, taking up 63.3 million square feet or 2.7% of total urban stock.

This move to the suburbs is likely due to a larger number of workers in these areas, especially those working in tech companies and from home. The markets with the largest share of suburban coworking spaces are Las Vegas, Palm Beach and Orange County.

The largest coworking operators of the year were, once again, WeWork and Regus, which account for 48% of coworking spaces in the top 50 metros. Despite this, the report warns that after the We Company’s failure to go public, the industry’s continuous growth will be put to the test as owners become wary of doing deals with coworking companies.