Page 14 - RENJ Sept.21

12 SEPTEMBER 2021
FILLING A NEED
Co-working demand grows in New Jersey,
as users seek flexibility amid continued uncertainty
After 18 months doing their
jobs from home because of COVID-19, many New Jersey workers are returning to flex and co- working spaces, according to several companies in the industry.
Operators, which include a growing number of landlords that are managing the spaces directly, say they have added more private suites to their offerings to make users feel safer from infection. And while they’re keeping a wary eye on COVID’s Delta variant, which is slowing the national recovery from the pandemic, they’re optimistic
about demand, for both the short term and long term.
“We have never been busier,” said Sean Donohue,
more than six times the space of the original flexible office facility that opened at the site in 2016.
IWG, the co-working giant based in England, recently said that demand in the U.S. rose 43 percent in June, compared with the pre-pandemic period of June 2019. IWG has 38 locations under the Regus brand name in New Jersey.
At Mission 50 in Hoboken, the story is similar. In spring 2020, after the state went into near-lockdown in the face of surging COVID cases, most tenants didn’t renew their leases,
according to Greg Dell’Aquila, CEO of JDA Group
LLC, which
owns and
By Kathleen Lynn
Sean Donohue
One big reason, co-working companies say, is that many people have become weary of working at home. Dell’Aquila gave the example
200 co-working members. Building owner Somerset Development debuted the facility last fall, offering
managing director of Colab, a 25,000-square- foot co-working space at Bell Works in Holmdel, which has more than
manages the property at 50 Harrison St.
But as of late August, the 80,000-square-
foot space was
about 85 percent full.
Greg Dell’Aquila
As workers grow tired of doing their jobs from home, the demand for safe but flexible office space has fueled activity at Colab, a 25,000-square-foot co-working space at Bell Works in Holmdel, which has more than 200 co-working members.
Courtesy: Bell Works