Why analysts believe shared workplaces are a growth industry in increasingly transient times Sam Rosen would be the first to tell you that coworking has a bright future. After all, the designer and entrepreneur runs Deskpass, a Chicago-based coworking subscription service that lets workers float between a curated selection of shared workspaces; it?s his job. He helped found one of Chicago?s first working spaces, the Coop, before creating Deskpass, and compares the growing industry to cafes: For every big-name shop like Starbucks, there?s a funky little neighborhood spot opened by an operator with passion and community spirit.
He?d also be the first to tell you that the concept?paying for access to a shared workspace, a model fueled by the rise in mobile technology and the gig economy?hasn?t quite become mainstream. ?If you go on the street and ask 10 people what coworking is, nine will say, ?co-what"?? he says. ?They just don?t know what that means.?
Coworking has become a trendy topic in corporate and commercial real estate in part because it both recognizes and romanticizes the modern working world. These buzzing hives of activity, shared by tech workers, entrepreneurs, and creatives, represent both the growth of the sharing economy and the antithesis of yesterday?s corporate offices. They?re birthplaces of startups (and in the case of space owned by WeWork, run by them, too). Often set up in converted warehouses or funky downtown lofts, coworking offers a mo...