A growing number of neighborhoods are designing spaces that allow people to live, work, and play all in one place. Furthermore, the rise of remote workers
has created a demand for coworking space. Not all remote workers want to be in a home office. For some, it’s too isolating. They want to be around people, but without the commute.
Coworking offers a great compromise. Remote workers enjoy an easy commute since the space is generally closer to home. When you add a retail center to the equation, they can shop during their lunch break or after work. Thus, managers and owners of retail centers looking for ways to bring in more revenue may find the answer with a coworking space.
The Need for Coworking Spaces in Retail Centers
Adding coworking spaces fills vacant spots and brings more foot traffic to your shopping center. That can lead to more tenants signing up. Your current tenants will delight in seeing more shoppers.
Coworking spaces aren’t just for remote workers. Traveling workers rely on them for hosting meetings. Office workers use them while traveling for business. Some businesses may have partnerships with companies that manage coworking spaces. It allows them to provide convenient office spaces for their employees at a more affordable rate.
What Makes a Good Coworking Space?
Colliers International’s Spring 2019 U.S. Retail Spotlight Report finds that more than half of Americans say it’d be useful to have a coworking space. They like the idea of being able to dine or run errands without driving anywhere.
How can a coworking space get the upper hand? Colliers lists these as the most important factors for a good coworking space:
- Safe and secure area
- Transportation access
- Dining nearby
- Abundant parking
- Location convenience
- Near shopping
Survey respondents say town, city centers, and shopping centers would be ideal locations for working spaces. Shopping fits the bill and checks off most, if not all, of these boxes.
Does adding a coworking space make a difference to the bottom-line? According to the Colliers report, more than two-thirds say it would compel them to visit shops and restaurants more often and spend more money.
How Secure Coworking Spaces Increase Revenues
More work-live-play neighborhoods are popping up. Colliers says that these communities were the first to recover from the recession. Typically, residents had to look downtown to find such a neighborhood, but not everyone wanted to live downtown. These work-live-play neighborhoods now include single-family homes, duplexes, and apartments in suburbs and places outside of downtown. Now, residents can work and shop near where they live.
Almost 90 percent of the respondents in the survey say that it’s important the coworking space be in a safe and secure area. Retail centers that implement live video monitoring can not only save on security guard fees, but also decrease crime and increase the effectiveness of their security program.
To learn more about retail center security services, please contact us.
