5 ms·

The existing commercial office space system seems very inefficient for small to medium-sized companies. You lease space, spend a ton renovating it to look "on-b

The existing commercial office space system seems very inefficient for small to medium-sized companies. You lease space, spend a ton renovating it to look "on-brand," then move a couple of years later. The next tenant renovates the space again to match their brand. Each remodel comes out of a "tenant improvement budget" given by the landlord, but that has to be recouped in rent over the duration of the lease, so it's not really free money to the tenant. Having offices that have already been remodeled to be nice enough, and just being able to lease a flexible number of desks could deliver huge savings - in time and cost to growing companies.

munk-a 8y ago
> spend a ton renovating it to look "on-brand," Wait, why? If you're a small-medium sized company that isn't in retail (or some other business where you, as a matter of course, service customers on premises) why would you divert a significant amount of money to renovations that match your brand? If you need to meet with investors or potential employees and are that concerned about appearances then just do it offsite.
- jvagner 8y ago
  Every small company I've every worked for has renovated their new space. Often, when the old tenants leave, the space is beat-up and unpresentable. Relative to the aggregate cost of rent over a couple of years, spending $10-20K to buff it out, put some walls in for meeting rooms and offices, etc... isn't a problematic spend.
  - Fomite 8y ago
    I think there's a difference between "New carpet, new paint" and other refurbishments like that, and "spend a ton to look 'on brand'."
    - ABCLAW 8y ago
      Depends what class of building you're renting in. A Class B building might tidy up the place, but if you're springing for a Class A building, prestige is what you're buying into.
- georgewfraser 8y ago
  Yeah I would argue this is actually something that drives up WeWork's costs. If you're a smallish business, you'll typically find an office that's already got an acceptable look and leave it alone. But WeWork always renovates their space to a high standard, which is very expensive.
  - konschubert 8y ago
    Except that their standard doesn't seem to consider acoustics at all, which is pretty insane to me.
    - fjp 8y ago
      It's amazing what I'm hearing in this thread compared to all the gushing articles a couple years ago about how WeWork had sed "algorithms" to perfect the use of space for the modern worker. I guess I should get used to the fact that so much journalism is just advertising.
- olleromam91 8y ago
  See "workplace identity"

munk-a 8y ago

> spend a ton renovating it to look "on-brand," Wait, why? If you're a small-medium sized company that isn't in retail (or some other business where you, as a matter of course, service customers on premises) why would you divert a significant amount of money to renovations that match your brand? If you need to meet with investors or potential employees and are that concerned about appearances then just do it offsite.

jvagner 8y ago
Every small company I've every worked for has renovated their new space. Often, when the old tenants leave, the space is beat-up and unpresentable. Relative to the aggregate cost of rent over a couple of years, spending $10-20K to buff it out, put some walls in for meeting rooms and offices, etc... isn't a problematic spend.
- Fomite 8y ago
  I think there's a difference between "New carpet, new paint" and other refurbishments like that, and "spend a ton to look 'on brand'."
  - ABCLAW 8y ago
    Depends what class of building you're renting in. A Class B building might tidy up the place, but if you're springing for a Class A building, prestige is what you're buying into.
georgewfraser 8y ago
Yeah I would argue this is actually something that drives up WeWork's costs. If you're a smallish business, you'll typically find an office that's already got an acceptable look and leave it alone. But WeWork always renovates their space to a high standard, which is very expensive.
- konschubert 8y ago
  Except that their standard doesn't seem to consider acoustics at all, which is pretty insane to me.
  - fjp 8y ago
    It's amazing what I'm hearing in this thread compared to all the gushing articles a couple years ago about how WeWork had sed "algorithms" to perfect the use of space for the modern worker. I guess I should get used to the fact that so much journalism is just advertising.
olleromam91 8y ago
See "workplace identity"