The co-working sector recovered relatively quickly from the pandemic and, for the most part, had a successful 2022. Everyone knows by now in the real estate industry that co-working growth is accelerating, as my colleague Holly Dutton reported in August 2022. And so far, a few firms still dominate the industry, while others who may have expanded too quickly following the pandemic are either closing or shedding locations, such as Convene or The Wing.
A recent study by CoworkingCafe ranked the largest co-working operators in 2022 in the U.S. by the number of locations, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Regus topped the list, followed by WeWork. Regus had 832 locations by year-end of 2022, more than three times as many as WeWork (246). The top five list of U.S. co-working operators was rounded out by Industrious (135 locations), Spaces (117), and Premier Workspaces (87).
While WeWork may be more of a household name, Regus remains the king of flex space in the U.S. and worldwide. Regus has about 3,000 locations worldwide and is the first co-working firm operating on a global scale. The company, as many may know, dates to the late-1980s, and its parent company IWG controls nearly one-fifth of the U.S. flex market under the Spaces and HQ brand names along with Regus. But while co-working is poised to grow in the years ahead for many reasons, an imminent recession predicted by many could pose challenges for several operators, including Regus, and pose a threat to the size and scale of portfolios in 2023.
