The Evolution of Office Space

When thinking about professional office space, the traditional model has always been something around the lines of private offices, conference rooms, kitchen, copy room, etc. for a baseline setup.  Nowadays, business are tending to slim down to conserve during hard times or on the opposite end of the spectrum, running a start up company where the owner might be the single employee, no need for big office space.  Whether these smaller businesses want the traditional space or are avid café customers who sit down for hours on end enjoying free WiFi in order to work – they are both constrained by an inflexible office market that wants to sign up a tenant for 1+ years in a space of a minimum of 500 square feet.  This leaves little opportunity for business too small to afford hefty rent payments.  So what are their options?

Over the past few years, landlords have gotten creative to accommodate the smallest businesses.  Take Intelligent Office for instance.

Intelligent Office is a company that now has nearly 50 franchises across the country.  Each offers executive, private offices in a shared environment.  Amenities such as an answering service, kitchen and conference rooms are shared among all tenants.  Just like a typical office, there is IT support, security and even furniture available to decorate an office.  A small business now has the capability of having a prestigious office to show off to clients without breaking the bank.

Impressive is just a starting point too.  Check out some of these offices Intelligent Office offers:

A similar concept of shared space has popped up in Santa Cruz, CA.  The concept coined by NextSpace differs from Intelligent Office’s model of a traditional-looking professional office space; rather it thrives on a dynamitic work space that involves sofas and picnic benches to foster a more café-like and collaborative environment.

Santa Cruz locals and NextSpace Co-Founders Jeremy Neuner and Ryan Coonerty, say that the words “rent” and “NextSpace” should never be in the same sentence.  NextSpace is all about the membership.  For $135/ month to $650/ month, a member has the ability to work in a unique atmosphere that has all the basic amenities that a normal, commercial full-service lease would include (kitchen, answering service, janitorial for those who actually have an office, etc.).  Importantly though, there is the NextSpace Effect which sets this concept apart from most other shared-work environments.

The NextSpace Effect happens out of spontaneous connections gained between Members.  The building is filled with individual work stations, couches, big comfy chairs – all specifically designed to make a friendlier, relaxed environment where conversation can more easily happen and sporadic connects are then made.

Here’s an example:

Someone’s working on their laptop at one of the many comfy sofas in the building and happens to strike up a conversation with another member working at the next sofa over.  They realize their businesses could benefit each other and suddenly, they are passing customer leads back and fourth.  The NextSpace Effect strikes again!

But NextSpace is not right for all small businesses and visa-a-versa for Intelligent Office.  It will be interesting to watch these next few years as the economy (hopefully) begins its recovery and businesses continue needing small spaces to thrive.  Whether it’s a relaxed, collaborative environment or a more professional, impressive office to show off to clients, demand from small business for small space will continue.

If you would like more information on any part of this article, please visit Barry Swenson Builder or feel free to contact the author at jwoodyard@barryswensonbuilder.com