Will There is a good bit of this happening already. Westfield, a major shopping center owner/developer, recently announced "Bespoke <http://www.sfgate.com/style/article/Westfield-San-Francisco-Centre-pioneers-new-mall-5801646.php>" which they describe as a "co-working, demonstration and event space" (yes, they used a hyphen :(
We've also seen examples of this in Australia with "Space&Co <http://www.spaceandco.com.au>" a coworking space developed by GPT Group (an office and retail REIT). I think you ask the right question, about whether a retail environment can be effective as a community driven environment, vs a more transactional space. I believe that if well designed and operated it can certainly be the latter. TBD on whether these new spaces can truly support community. Regardless, I think its very clear that more and more flavors of workspace are on the come. Cheers Mark On Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 4:15 AM, Will Bennis, Locus Workspace < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi All, > > Recently a shopping mall realtor approached me about opening a coworking > space in their closed gaming zone/internet cafe. I'd love to hear opinions > about this, pros and cons. Before you completely ignore this post as coming > from someone who is clearly not from the same coworking planet, here is why > I'm even considering it: > > (1) *With respect to the fact that mall real estate goes for a premium: *At > least where I am, a lot of shopping malls are trying to build in > community/space quality features that make going to the mall (which lets > face it, most people in urban areas sometimes do) a more human experience: > space-taking areas like open art galleries, free indoor playgrounds, > exhibition space, gardens, etc. These spaces add value/traffic to the mall > as a whole, making the rentable space more valuable. This means that the > mall owner may be willing to partially fund a coworking space if it adds > value to the mall as a whole. > > (2) *With regard to the importance of community and quality of the work > environment: *Sure, malls are horrific. But they're also a reality. > Wouldn't creating coworking spaces in the horrific reality of a shopping > mall make malls a little less horrific? To the extent you could contribute > to the reinvention of malls as more human, community-focused spaces, > wouldn't it be a good thing to promote the development of a coworking space > in a mall? > > (3) *With respect to the objection that it wouldn't be sustainable; the > kind of people drawn to coworking would not want to do it in a mall: *The > malls where I am right now have many fast food restaurants (McDonalds, KFC, > etc.) with free bad wifi and people working away on their laptops or in > business meetings, or higher end cafes where laptop workers aren't as > welcome and places to work aren't comfortable or well suited for meaningful > work or quality meetings. I would guess many of the people who work in the > area or who are just there while their partners are shopping or their kids > are at the movies would love a more human space to work. Yes, they're not > the people traditionally drawn to coworking, but is there room for > something in between? > > My big question I guess is whether there would be a way to do this that > would create more than the equivalent of a hotel "business center" or an > internet cafe? Would there value or demand for a community-focused > workspace in a mall? > > Clearly this couldn't be an ideal community-focused and community-driven > coworking space. But is there room for something between the ideal and the > "business center" in a shopping mall (or airport or highway > gas-station/restaurant off-ramp for that matter)? Something that would help > build the sense of community and humanity in these largely community-less > spaces? Could it bear the *coworking *name? > > I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. > > Best, > Will > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
