IWG, Parent of Regus, Spaces, and other Flexible Workspace Brands, Targets Texas Suburbs for Expansion

International Workplace Group (IWG), the 3,300-location flexible workspace global powerhouse parent of Regus, a professional workplace brand; Spaces, a creative workplace brand; HQ, a hassle-free workplace brand; and Signature, a luxurious workspace brand, has announced plans to increase its Texas footprint. Texas growth is a part of the brand’s plan to add 1,000 more locations under agreement next year, with the majority coming from landlords, building owners and institutional developers who want to fill empty spaces and generate revenue and operating income. Currently, there are over 120 IWG locations within the state.

“This strategic plan of adding 1,000 locations is very critical because we’re looking to deploy flexible workspace solutions, not just to continue our growth in the major urban markets, but beyond them,” explained Wayne Berger, CEO of IWG The Americas. “We’re very well positioned to grow in the suburbs, neighborhoods and boroughs. The small towns, the villages and the tertiary markets. People want the ability to live in a 15-minute city.”

The idea of a “15-minute city” is becoming more and more attractive to working professionals who realize how their days open up — without losing any time for work — when their commute is greatly reduced.

Texas expansion plans

Establishing IWG workspaces in communities across the nation will allow everyday people to have access to a communal workspace that provides human interaction and meets social needs without having to travel to the corporate office each day.

As the concept expands, the state of Texas is a strong target market for growth.

“We’ve signed a number of locations in places you’ll probably never hear of unless you know somebody or are from there,” Berger said. Included in this list are Abilene and Denton, Texas.

The brand’s existing presence benefits prospective investors, landlords, building owners, and institutional developers as IWG workspaces already have a known name in the area, and the continued success of existing locations only points to the opportunity for new development.

In terms of specific markets within the state, Berger described communities that people tend to flee to when looking to escape larger, bustling cities. Towns like Freeport, Leon Valley, Glenn Heights, Crowley, Alton and Pecan Grove are all prime examples of optimal markets for flexible working spaces.

Partnership opportunities

As the brand expands, it is looking to partner with a variety of investors. The ideal investor is a landlord looking to escape the more traditional capital lease model and adopt a bit of flexibility through partnering with IWG.

In this model, a landlord with available space is able to invest the capital necessary to convert vacant space in their building into an IWG space. Once this is complete, IWG handles all of the sales, marketing, staffing and more.

“We staff the team, we deploy all of our resources and technologies, and we place it onto the world’s largest global network that drives over 1 million inquiries every single year,” Berger explained. “We drive revenue by offering that as a flexible workspace location.”

As the demand for flexible workspace continues to rise, these partnerships allow landlords the flexibility to leverage that market growth while having the support of a proven business to assist in the execution.

IWG also offers partnership opportunities to institutional investors and business investors under the Regus brand.