The demand for flexible workspace has dramatically changed in the last 18 months<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Colliers found that in the first half of 2019, demand for flexible workspace was up about 20.5 per cent from 2018 across the leading 28 metropolitan markets in the United States. In the first half of 2020, growth was still up from the year before – but by just 1.6 per cent. There’s no denying that COVID-19 significantly impacted this slowdown. There’s been a lot of discussion recently about what will happen in the next six months, and how an uptick in demand for flexible workspace in the suburbs might impact growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To gain more insight into suburban inventory, Colliers examined inventory growth over a 21-month period (between the fourth quarter of 2018 and the second quarter of 2020). As of Q2 of this year, they calculated about 1.99 million square metres (21.4 million sq ft) of flexible workspace in the suburbs compared to 3.85 million square metres (41.1 million sq ft) of flexible workspace in the central business district (CBD) market. Suburbs roughly maintain 50 per cent of the inventory of CBDs, but many expect this to change dramatically in the next 18 months as lower density suburbs receive a disproportionate share of new demand. <\/p>\n\n\n