Written by Mike Kriel, CEO of Launch Workplaces
If you run a property management company, here’s something worth paying attention to.
The largest brokerage and property management firms in the country have already made their move into flexible office space management, coworking integration, and hospitality services for entire buildings.
This is becoming standard protocol for the world’s biggest firms, and they’re bringing it directly to institutional owners and trophy assets.
That’s where everything starts in real estate: the largest players move first, then it trickles down.
So, if you’re running a regional or local property management firm and this isn’t on your radar yet, it’s coming.
The question is whether you’re positioned to take advantage of it or scrambling to catch up.
Here’s what you need to know.
Building Owners Are Already Asking Their Property Managers About Flex, But Most Can’t Answer
This isn’t theoretical. In conversations with building owners and asset managers, some of the earliest questions that come up are about activation and integration:
- How do you bring a dead or underutilized space to life?
- Can you handle hospitality for the whole building, not just one floor?
- How do you integrate into community programming, events, fitness, and parking?
- How do you create a building that tenants actually want to be in?
Those questions used to live entirely in the property manager’s lane, but that’s changing.
Coworking operators are being pulled into conversations that used to have nothing to do with them, because the line between managing a building and creating an experience in that building is getting blurry fast.
The firms that can answer those questions confidently are going to win more business. The ones that can’t are going to watch those conversations go somewhere else.
Regional Firms That Move First Will Walk Into Owner Conversations With Something Nobody Else Is Offering
At the institutional level, this integration is already well underway. But at the regional and local level, there’s still room to move first.
If you’re a property management firm in a mid-Atlantic market or any regional market, the right flexible operator partnership could be a real differentiator. Not just for the buildings you already manage, but for every new owner conversation you walk into. You’re bringing more to the table. You’re showing up with a solution to a problem most owners are already thinking about.
That’s blue water. And it doesn’t stay blue for long.
How to Find the Right Flex Operator Partner for Your Market
Start by identifying the flexible operators in your market who share your values and operate at your level.
The goal isn’t to become a coworking operator. Instead, it’s about understanding how coworking fits into the full picture of building management and finding the right partner who can help you deliver it.
The firms that figure this out first are going to be in a much stronger position with owners over the next few years. The ones who wait are going to spend that time playing catch-up.
If you want to learn more about how flexible office space can work for your building, download our free ebook, The Commercial Landlord’s Guide to Flexible Office Space. And check out the full Flex in Five series on YouTube for more.
