WeWork announced offices at 1 Glenwood in Downtown Raleigh

One doesn’t need to read the Amy Bush Commercial blog (though we’re glad your here) to see all the changes in the way we work in 2018.  But in case you haven’t heard,  WeWork is coming to Raleigh.  And if that doesn’t seem monumental to you, here is what The Atlantic wrote about WeWork in a recent issue: “WeWork is the world’s leading co-working company and the sixth-most-valuable start-up, according to VentureSource. Last year it was valued at $20 billion, a staggering sum for a company renting out short-term office space, mostly to small businesses and freelancers.”

In the coming  years, Commercial Real Estate forecasts anticipate that a significant percentage of office space will  be used as co-working space.  One study stated that worldwide, with a plurality in the United States, there were approximately 1.27 million people working in co-working spaces with the number of co-working spaces growing from 2,000 to 15,500 over the past 5 years.

The first wave of co-working served a relatively small, scrappy set of independent contractors and do-gooders. You cannot go to a coffee shop, or library, or workspace incubator without seeing laptoppers in jeans clacking away.

Sola Coffee in Raleigh

 

The Frontier in RTP

Cameron Village Public Library

The second wave of co-working has responded to an economy in which independent work has become more default than choice.  And the co-working industry is here to stay.  It will probably have growth pains like any other new, disruptive development.  For example, in the 1990’s, full-service office suite rentals were the new thing.  Regus was the market leader, prospered during those boom years, particularly in the late 1990’s as start-ups mushroomed.  The bubble did eventually burst and Regus’s stock took a beating, but the full-service office suite rental market is back and as profitable as ever.

There are several home grown Commercial Co-Working spaces in the Triangle and, as indicated by WeWork coming to town, expect the opportunities to grow.  These are exciting times in the office space world and we hope to hear from you.  Whether you are a buyer/seller or landlord/tenant , Amy Bush Commercial can help you with all your commercial real estate needs.