Study Reveals Workspace Operators Outperform Traditional Office Landlords

Providers of flexible solutions to traditional office space see uptick in a down real estate market

-- Global Workspace Association (GWA) -- the leading trade association representing workspace operators -- released its comprehensive study of the workspace industry which reveals that the flexible and money saving solutions delivered by workspace-as-a-service providers is fueling industry growth at a time when the results for traditional office space have been mixed.

Workspace-as-a-service is on-demand workspace available with terms that allow businesses to align workspace and business needs as opposed to traditional office space which requires long-term leases and large up-front capital expenditures for office space.  The concept is much like software-as-a-service which offers a more agile solution to the costly purchase of packaged software. Providers of workspace-as-a-service offer fully serviced office space on flexible terms by the hour, day, week, month or year and include office business centers, executive suites, co-working facilities, and meeting spaces.

According to the recently released GWA 2011 Industry Financial Study, providers of workspace-as-a-service saw occupancy in 2010 improve by 2.3 percentage points over the prior year besting the traditional office market which saw occupancy unchanged in 2010 versus 2009. Further, workspace operators saw steady pricing in 2010 versus the traditional office market which saw effective rents slip, according to REIS, a provider of impartial commercial real estate performance information.

In addition to improvements in the core business of providing fully serviced offices, the industry has seen continued growth of virtual office and meeting room services, catering to the growing corps of mobile workers around the globe. "Industry-wide, virtual office and meeting room services grew during the recent recession, but the real story is that these segments actually emerged from the recession supercharged, posting double digit growth in each of the past two years," said John G. Jordan, President of GWA. "Mobile workers who are self-employed or work with large companies have seen the benefits of shedding the risk and limitations of the traditional office in favor of virtual offices, touchdown space, and on-demand meeting spaces, and they are embracing these alternatives."

According to Jill Kolling, President of Paydirt, LLC in Richmond, Virginia, the benefits of "starting a new business is always risky, but especially so in the midst of a global recession. Our virtual office option at701 Executive Suites is a perfect, no-risk solution. We can reserve furnished offices and conference rooms when we need them, but not carry the overhead of dedicated office space."

Tony Wilkins of TCS, Inc in San Francisco, California, appreciates how the flexibility of on-demand meeting spaces allows him to tailor his meeting space expenses to his clients' needs. "I teach a business development workshop for small and midsized firms. Sometimes my workshops have 30 people and sometimes only three. What I like most about Davinci Virtual Office Solutions is the flexibility in locations, cost and availability."

For more information about GWA, visit: www.globalworkspace.org or contact Richard Meyers, GWA Executive Director, at 949.260.9023 or at rmeyers@globalworkspace.org

SOURCE Global Workspace Association (GWA)