CBRE will invest $100 million into Industrious, solidifying its commitment to a flexible future of work.
In 2021, Industrious took over CBRE’s flexible office arm Hana and received an investment of $230 million from the real estate firm, which represented a 40% stake into the flexible workspace operator.
According to its own research, CBRE found that 59% occupiers anticipate that flex space will make up over 10% of their real estate portfolio over the next two years.
“With each passing day the intertwinement of long-term leasing and flex, workplace-as-a-service and building management gets more pronounced,” said Jamie Hodari, CEO of Industrious. “And a lot of companies have moved from dabbling with flex, where it felt more like an experiment, to doing it as a more programmatic durable decision.”
In an effort to keep up with the climbing demand for flex space, Industrious recently acquired The Great Room in Asia and Welkin & Meraki in Europe — two acquisitions that allowed the company to bring its presence to six countries.
Industrious’ expansion has been consistent throughout the last few years, even in the face of pandemic-era uncertainty, and Hodari adds that this continued growth is “sustainable.”
“It’s like selling cell phones in 2002,” said Hodari. “There’s increasing adoption of the category, but you still need to be great at it.”
