Yardi announced today the acquisition of WUN Systems, an award-winning and fast-growing leader in the coworking and shared space market. WUN Systems is a provider of a workspace management platform delivering all the tools needed to manage a smart and connected workspace. WUN’s mission is to provide the blueprint for growth and efficiency in their members’ workspace. “We are excited to be part of such a dynamic and growing market segment,” said Gordon Morrell, executive vice president of Yardi. “With shared workspace on the rise, this gives commercial and residential real estate companies the flexibility to explore new revenue streams and customer retention strategies.” WUN Systems’ intelligent workspace management platform delivers the software, hardware, and support services required to open new shared workspaces, improve existing spaces, or monetize vacant or underutilized real estate with the goal to increase revenue, maximize productivity and build community for its members. WUN Systems now serves more than 80,000 members in 700 locations globally. The company’s team of over 90 engineers, programmers, service specialists, project managers and specialists will continue to operate from its offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico and India. “Yardi’s commitment to its clients and wanting to continually improve, innovate and grow is inline with our mission to fuel the space-as-a-service evolution. The synergy between the real estate market and the coworking and shared workspace market makes this relationship a natural fit and strengthens both of our offerings,” said Dale Hersowitz, CEO at WUN...

CBRE recently released the Spring 2017 North America Suburban Office Trends Report. Econometric advisors foresee positive net absorption and rent growth will continue throughout suburban office markets in the United States. A handful of cities stand out for their growth. For more than 27 quarters, the U.S. suburban office vacancy rate has refused to rise. Sluggish new supply in major suburbs cannot keep up with increasing tenant demand. Even suburbs that were slow to recover from the recession are now showing luster.  CBRE reports that several Florida markets, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and even Detroit posted year-over-year vacancy rate decreases of 200 bps or more in Q4 2016. Submarkets that cater to thriving industries, such as technology, stand to benefit the most from this trend. Major suburbs that offer energy efficient spaces and top-end amenities will also do well. The following 10 markets are slated for success throughout 2018. Suburban Atlanta Increasing by 10.1 percent, rates for Atlanta office space for rent ended 2016 at an average of $22.47 per sq. ft. Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that some areas of the metropolitan area just made history by breaking the $50 per foot barrier. Cambridge, Mass. The vacancy rate declined by 180 basis points by Q4 2016, ending at 3.8 percent. The average price came in at $65.26 per sq. ft. The new city of Cambridge has grown in large part due to the presence of technology powerhouses, Microsoft and Apple. The presence of academic professionals, employees of Cambridge Innovation Center and WeWork also contribute to the high demand for office spaces. Suburban Fort Lauderdale, Fla. At the end of Q4 2016, the suburb yielded 8.3 office rent growth, at a price of about $29 per sq. ft. New construction and the conversion of some retail spaces...

In 2016, major cities such as Hong Kong have seen a significant 45% increase in the amount of coworking office spaces being offered. Similarly, the past two years have resulted in more than 100 operators providing coworking environments in China’s top cities and more than 20 in Singapore according to JLL reports. Although numbers still lag behind those in the West, the proliferation of coworking spaces in Australia, Singapore, China, and other metropolitan areas in the Asia Pacific region show a growing inclination for flexibility and non-traditional offices for both employees and corporations alike. A trendy alternative Coworking is a style of work that involves sharing a space with others not employed by the same company. Occupiers of a coworking space generally have access to a number of resources including wifi, private offices, conference rooms, cafes, work desks, and communal space on a shared floor. Coworking spaces also provide a low risk, agile solution for companies and individuals that do not want to invest in the high fixed costs and long leases required of a traditional office. Yet far more than the resources, the greatest value in coworking comes from the relationships, knowledge sharing, and collaboration fostered by accommodating people of various industries, backgrounds, and levels of experience into one single workspace. Nowadays coworking spaces can take on a variety of forms from ones that are catered to freelancers and startups to those for a single business. Corporate interest in coworking, especially, is growing. More and more businesses see the value in sending their employees into a community in closer contact, as JLL Singapore research analyst Jiemei Tan describes, “with startups, entrepreneurs and freelancers, [that] allows for an unhampered exchange of ideas with these stalwarts of innovation.” In the Asia Pacific region too, the...

Creating an optimal work environment can prove daunting. It’s often impractical – and prohibitively expensive – to provide each employee with their own private domain. On the other hand, the surprisingly popular open office strategy has been shown to negatively impact productivity and morale. So what’s the solution for distracted staff and budget-conscious employers? In a 2014 dispatch for The New Yorker, Maria Konnikova laid out all the negatives of the wall-less workspace in “The Open-Office Trap.” Konnikova begins with a brief history of the open office, which originated in 1950s Germany and has spread to over 70% of offices worldwide. This wide-scale adoption runs counter to mounting evidence open office space increases stress, reduces productivity and leaves personnel feeling resentful and dissatisfied. Much of the adverse effects of an open office can be traced back to the psychological need for privacy and control. In fact, a 2005 study revealed, “the ability to control environment had a significant effect on team cohesion and satisfaction.” Additionally, in a 2011 survey by organizational psychologist Matthew Davis, open offices were found uncontrolled interactions with coworkers created “higher levels of stress, and lower levels of concentration and motivation.” Noise, of course, is yet another drawback of the open office plan. Overhearing phone calls and being subjected to unsolicited comments are just some of the challenges presented by the barrier-free workstation. Konnikova cites several studies indicating noise can result in both physical and psychological symptoms. For example, unwelcome sound adversely influences cognitive function and mental recall, and can even trigger the “fight-or-flight” response. So what’s the solution? Over at Slate, associate editor L.V. Anderson proposes a few simple ways to reign in the chatter and clamor rumbling unabated across desks and workstations. Anderson advises employers take advantage of instant messaging apps...