Landlords are beginning to enter the coworking market and have quickly become top competition for operators.
Convene, CBRE’s partnership with Hana and Brookfield, is an example of landlord-owned coworking models.
“Landlords realize the way people work is undoubtedly changing, and changing rapidly,” said Patrick Amos, SVP at CBRE.“Landlords know that coworking is now an amenity that appeals to various tenants for various reasons and are trying to expand on that by offering services provided by an operator as well as amenities provided by both the landlord in collaboration with an operator to cater to all tenants at a property.”
Although most flexible workspaces offer a variety of benefits for users, Amos said it is difficult to decipher whether users prefer coworking operators or an in-house model.
Regardless, flexible spaces are a huge aspect of the office market and this model allows landlords to compete in the market without dealing with third-party providers.