How a Global Real Estate Leader Identified High-Growth Opportunities in the U.S. Flexible Workspace Market

Who

A global real estate advisory firm, operating across 100+ countries and known for its deep expertise in property management, brokerage, and investment services, sought to capture the surge in flexible workspace demand in the United States.
The leadership team aimed to define a data-driven market entry strategy for a new sub-brand specializing in hybrid and co-working environments tailored to corporate clients and SMEs.

What

The client’s core challenge was to quantify post-pandemic demand for hybrid work models and determine where and how to compete in an increasingly crowded flexible-office market.

Key objectives included:

• Measuring demand for flexible, short-term leasing and shared workspaces across top U.S. cities.
• Benchmarking competitors such as WeWork and Regus to identify differentiation levers in pricing, layout, and service design.
• Selecting launch locations aligned with emerging hybrid-work clusters and enterprise client needs.

When

The engagement was initiated in the post-COVID recovery phase, when global firms were downsizing long-term leases and adopting agile workspace strategies. This structural shift created both risk and opportunity for traditional real estate service providers seeking relevance in the hybrid era.

Where

The study covered 30+ metropolitan and secondary markets across the United States, including New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Austin—cities with the highest concentrations of agile corporate users.
Secondary markets such as Denver and Raleigh were also assessed to evaluate future expansion corridors for the client’s flexible workspace brand.

Why

Although market projections showed significant growth, the client lacked granular insight into:

• City-level variations in workspace demand.
• Gaps in service quality and pricing among existing providers.
• Forecasted adoption rates for hybrid office models.

Without these insights, the leadership risked suboptimal capital allocation, delayed market penetration, and brand overlap with established players.

How

Ken Research designed a comprehensive market-intelligence framework combining demand analytics, competitive benchmarking, and predictive modeling to guide executive decisions.

Approach and Execution

• Demand Analysis: Conducted surveys with 250+ enterprise and SME clients across five major metros to capture preferences for flexibility, lease tenure, and workspace design.
• Competitive Benchmarking: Assessed top workspace providers (WeWork, Regus, Industrious, and others) on pricing, service models, occupancy rates, and technology integration.
• Predictive Analytics: Modelled vacancy, leasing trends, and rental spreads to forecast city-specific workspace demand over a two-year horizon.
• Location Feasibility Mapping: Created a proprietary “Market Potential Index” to shortlist 10 high-growth cities for phased rollout of the client’s sub-brand.

The insights enabled leadership to prioritize markets, refine pricing, and develop a differentiated go-to-market (GTM) strategy tailored to hybrid-work adoption trends.

Results & Impact

• 86% of surveyed corporate clients expressed strong preference for short-term, flexible leasing—validating the sub-brand’s positioning.
• Enhanced workspace design and service experience led to a 3% lift in enterprise-client retention, translating to multi-million-dollar recurring contract value.
• 15% near-term growth potential identified in secondary cities, enabling a phased expansion plan that optimized capital allocation.
• The sub-brand successfully launched in key metro hubs, achieving faster occupancy ramp-up and higher renewal rates than forecasted.

Ken Research’s analytics-driven approach equipped the client to transition from traditional property services to a future-ready flexible-workspace leader.
By quantifying demand, mapping competition, and forecasting market growth, the engagement empowered executives to confidently invest, scale, and capture emerging hybrid-work opportunities across the U.S. market.