This is where CORTвЂ™s Furniture-as-a-Service (FaaS) ( ) has come in handy for several CRE companies pursuing a flex-space model. Buying office furniture for leases that range from one month to three years is no longer cost effective. However, that flexibility also required more from third party providers.ДЇor instance, shorter lease terms often require property managers to be more flexible in how they furnish these spaces. In each case, flexible lease terms were key for increasing tenancy. Many of these spaces are fully furnished and ready for immediate occupancy.ДЄs a Sales Manager for CORTвЂ™s Commercial Business Development segment, I have personally worked on six projects already this year where property owners have targeted the flex-space customer. Others are committing a portion of their building to short lease terms to accommodate corporate customers seeking greater flexibility than a traditional office space. Some are developing their own co-working spaces. With the development of integrated technologies and changes in the market, the way in which building owners earn money has shifted, too. are developing solutions that allow them to capture the growing demand for flexible space. Flex-Space Requires a New MindsetД«uilding owners across the U.S. After all, the amenities a customer expects in an office building today have changed drastically to what was expected 10 to 20 years ago. While shorter lease terms are beneficial for tenants, it also seems that offering more flexible lease terms can benefit CRE companies as well вЂ“ especially those whose portfolios include older buildings that are having to compete with new product coming on the market. Given Boston PropertiesвЂ™ initial results, it would seem that the flex-space model definitely meets a need within the commercial real estate rental market. The physical space needs to be designed to allow all this to happen with minimal cost and construction time. To take advantage of the growing need for flex-space, building owners need to carve out space within their existing properties, as the needs of the flex customer will require the ability to expand or contract easily.

As you can see, the applications for this type of model are a selling point to a variety of different types of tenant. In fact, several existing traditional tenants used the flex-space while their long-term office space was being built out. The new tenants were not just small to mid-sized businesses. In the end, they leased all the suites within one month.

As one of the largest office landlords in the U.S., the company saw that small to medium-sized businesses were limited when it came to office solutions, and dedicated an entire floor of the large downtown property to the new flex space model. One of the most notable entrants into the flex-space market was when Boston Properties installed its first flex space at the Prudential Center in Boston last year. In contrast to co-working spaces, which are branded by the co-working company and are frequented by very small businesses and freelancers, flex space allows small to mid-size businesses to create their own office culture-even if theyвЂ™re not ready or able to commit to a long-term office lease. These spaces are usually smaller suites grouped around shared facilities, such as conference rooms and kitchens. What is Flex-Space?ДЇlex-space provides companies with access to flexible but dependable office space on a lease term of anywhere from one month to three years. Although a move toward shorter leases may cause anxiety for some in the commercial real estate industry, taking advantage of this new trend toward вЂњflex-spaceвЂќ can fill a gap in the workplace leasing model, while also opening up new revenue streams for commercial real estate owners. Co-working spaces now provide companies with a more flexible option вЂ“ allowing start-ups to rent office space by the month as they find their footing, or letting even more established companies to scale up offices quickly in new locations.Д«ut what happens once those startups mature? WhatвЂ™s the next step when that major corporation has stabilized its workforce at the new location?ДЄnd in that answer lies great opportunity for the commercial real estate space. However, the rise of co-working over the past five years has greatly disrupted the space. In the past, commercial real estate leases have generally been in the range of five to seven years in length.

Flex type property