Multifamily developers are preparing to adapt to the needs of remote working residents who need a place to get work done, while socializing with their neighbors.
At the end of March, roughly two-third of knowledge workers were working from home according to software firm Netskope. This means that existing and future apartment communities will need to look into offering more workspace amenities once the pandemic has ended.
Universe Holdings currently offers coworking spaces across several of its communities in the Los Angeles area, and may add more in the future.
“I think we’ll continue to see the expansion of coworking spaces within multifamily projects,” said Ben Krasnow, Managing Director of Crescent Communities. “I think we’ll see the size of coworking spaces likely increase within projects, and the design will be catered more to, as I call it, the digital nomads, or people who are able to work remotely digitally and are not bound by any specific location.”
According to Ken Busch, senior vice president of residential development for Sares Regis Group of Northern California (SRGNC), the company is looking to implement private phone booth workspaces in an upcoming project in San Francisco that may abide by physical distancing guidelines more.