Demand for Flexibility is Not Going Anywhere

Coworking space could easily triple its current share in gateway markets in the next decade.

SAN FRANCISCO—Coworking inventory has grown substantially during the past three years. In fact, half of all current US coworking space has opened since early 2015, with more than 5 million square feet of new space becoming available in each of the past three years. And, another 3 million square feet of new space has opened in the first half of 2018, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s coworking and flexible office space report. The report examines coworking and flexible-office trends, and the implication for the commercial real estate industry and its participants.

Despite this growth, coworking still accounts for only 1%—47.8 million square feet—of the total 5 billion square feet of office inventory across the 87 markets tracked by Cushman & Wakefield.