CoreNet Global, the pre-eminent commercial real estate research organization, has produced its latest “State of the Industry” report (link to summary).
One of their major statements is that office workers will continue to prefer office environments over alternatives. I think this is certainly obvious, but they decline to explore the growing trends away from straight offices. Actually, they explain the rise of “Alternative Workplace Strategies” (AWS) where firms are exploring new ways of managing space in order to use less total space for their employees, but do not note the readily available alternatives.
The rise of serviced offices and coworking spaces demonstrates the need for a wider array of options for real estate professionals. Although traditional demand for CRE is “extending tendrils” of an economic recovery, companies are continuing to prioritize cost-cutting and that includes tightening the belt on office space. Many organizations are realizing that anywherefrom 40-60% of their offices are not used at any given time (according to a CoreNet-Steelcase study). Team spaces and collaborative locations are going to continue to take up more of the CRE footprint as the nature of work changes.
It is an exciting time to be following these trends and solving problems for clients as they look to achieve real value from their real estate expenditures.