First marvelled at as a trendy fringe phenomenon, the property market today would be inconceivable without coworking spaces. According to surveys by Colliers, in the most important German business districts, this segment has achieved a market share of more than five percent in the past year. That equates to around 200,000 m2 of office space. The brokerage firm asked the tenants of coworking centres what their main reasons were for renting the spaces. A very important reason was the reduction of fixed costs during fluctuating space requirements, e.g. during certain project phases. The lack of availability of space, particularly in the sought-after top 7 locations, also played an important role. The original community thinking behind coworking still remains important, but it is no longer the driving force.
The questionnaire only focuses on the pure renting of time-limited office work spaces and does not include the model of “incubators”, that is, a company’s own think tanks. The thought behind it is for a company to offer an area under its own brand that is open to employees as well as external service providers, freelancers or startups - later cooperation is not excluded.