Though in its nascent stage, flexible office space or co-work segment is steadily on the rise, emerging as a major driver for commercial office sector.
According to a Vestian report, flexible office space stock is estimated to rise 52 per cent by 2025 to 81 million square feet with operators expanding their business to tap rising demand, according to Vestian. Flexible office space operators currently have 53.4 million square feet area under operations and the number is estimated to reach 81 million square feet by 2025.
Over 7.6 lakh seats are available with flexible space operators spread across more than 1000 centers in India and the flexible office space is growing at a CAGR of 23%. The wider adoption of flexible spaces in India started in 2015-16 when the market was fragmented and unorganized. However, it has since grown rapidly and become more organized. Flexible spaces are garnering significant attention not only from startups and SMEs but also from large enterprises.
“Flexible space operators provide what occupiers are looking for – low cost, flexibility, and technologically advanced spaces. While 2023 is likely to be a challenging year for businesses amid macroeconomic uncertainty and fear of recession, flexible spaces are a way to navigate global headwinds,” says Shrinivas Rao, CEO, of Vestian As employees of several companies return to the office under a hybrid model, it is expected that the demand for flexible spaces will further rise. Furthermore, Vestian has projected that the flexible office sector would constitute around 25% of the overall office space absorption by 2025.
Flexible office spaces broadly include dedicated desks, hotdesking, coworking spaces, serviced and managed office spaces. While coworking centers are at the most flexible end of the spectrum, managed offices would be at the less flexible end. There are 50 major flexible space operators. The top 10 players hold 84 per cent of the total flexible office space portfolio.
Prominent office areas like Whitefield in Bengaluru, Hitec City in Hyderabad, Baner in Pune, Andheri (E) in Mumbai, and DLF Cybercity in Gurugram are popular with flex space operators and occupiers/tenants alike.
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