Growth is ahead, as well as tough challenges Coworking behemoth WeWork earned a jaw-dropping $16 billion valuation, just as the coworking economy nationwide posted a stellar 10 percent growth rate last year. And new, more specialized spaces, including The Wing, a coworking hub for women, have opened, giving freelance workers more options than ever to find a comfortable place to be creative.
While the these new types of trendy workspaces have enjoyed impressive growth, it?s not all good news in the world of coworking. A new report by global planning, design, and architecture firm HOK, Coworking: A Corporate Real Estate Perspective, looks beyond the meteoric rise and offers a sober assessment of the coworking business. The overarching theme is: don?t believe the hype.
Authored by Kay Sargent, a senior principal and director of HOK?s WorkPlace practice, the report shows the upsides of the business, as well as the numerous commercial challenges and demographic shifts posing a threat to this fast-growing sector of the real estate world. Here are some insights, facts, and myths about shared workspaces, and why they remain a hot investment for many property owners.

The coworking market truly is primed to explode
The concept of coworking is far from new. Technically, the first coworking spaces?The Hat Factory and Citizen Space, both in San Francisco?were established in 2006. But the concept has become mainstream with the growth of companies such as WeWork, and growth in ...