So there I was at the CRE Tech Conference in San Francisco yesterday, looking for the cool new tech stuff, apps, etc. when I heard a term I'd never heard before- "Community as a Service". It was a term thrown out by panelist Jon Slavet- GM of WeWork. Now I've heard of SAAS- (Software as a Service), but "Community as a Service"? What the heck was that? Well, it turns out that this is an area (or a "space" in tech talk) that many of these CRE Tech guys are trying to get into. The idea of community is one of the essential reasons why we still have a huge demand for office space. People can do most of their work at home, at a starbucks or in a hotel lobby. But the community - of people, ideas, differing backgrounds- THAT is a good reason to come to the office.
And these tech guys are trying to tap into what is essential to a community, and re-create it (for a fee of course). It is why WeWork sees themselves more as a creator of environments then a lessor of space. How much community does your firm need to thrive? How much would you pay for that? Could that be something you do in an off-site location a few times a week? Like going to the gym? Could certain real estate be used by multiple different firms, at the same time, rather than one firm 100% of the time, which is the norm now? Can "community" be a subscription service?
This really got me thinking, and I can't stop thinking about it. I see it having significant implications for the way office space is used, particularly in CBD areas and urban cores. What if your firm didn't have a Headquarters, per se, but you had a variety of different small workplaces sprinkled throughout the city, and then a required 2 half days at a community type place- A Wework on steroids? Would this be a more productive set up? Would it save a company money? Would the employees be happier?
In my opinion, this is something we should be keeping our eyes on as it is just in its infancy. I'd love to hear others thoughts on this.
Regards,
Steve