ATLANTA—Corporate real estate managers are quickly getting on board with the concept of co-working space, according to a survey by CoreNet Global and Cushman & Wakefield. A majority of respondents worldwide said they'd lease co-working space to help manage their organizations' real estate needs, joining Microsoft, GE, Salesforce and other large-scale adopters of a concept popularized by tech startups.

Fifty-two percent of respondents in North America said they'd lease co-working space, with 50% of Central and South American respondents and 56% of Europeans saying the same thing. In the Asia Pacific region, 70% endorsed the co-working model.

“When we talk to our businesses, their crystal ball is reasonably clear for three months, it starts getting cloudy in six months and it is harder to forecast what the business will look like in five to seven years,” Kevin Sauer, workplace strategy leader at GE, is quoted as saying in a new whitepaper released by CoreNet Global. “So, from a traditional corporate real estate model, we're sandbagging the business by signing them up for a long-term lease in space that may or may not suit their business needs after move-in.”

Microsoft found a different rationale for using co-working space in New York City. Although the software giant has offices in New York, it also has nearly 300 salespeople based outside of the city who travel there to meet with clients. This past November, it struck a deal with WeWork for as-needed access to all of the co-working space provider's facilities in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

The CoreNet Global whitepaper cites other effects of the co-working trend. Office landlords, for instance, are incorporating elements of this model in terms of shared spaces and an active, social environment.

Lobbies are being redesigned from places that people pass through on their way to the elevator bank into spaces where people can bring a laptop and a cup of coffee or meet with colleagues, according to the whitepaper. The co-working model is also translating into more shared conference rooms and training rooms that allow tenants to reserve these spaces, rather than building them into their own footprints.

Microsoft New York

Instant Insights /

Real Estate Managers Get on Board with Co-working Model

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