Has your search for a new home focused on areas in metropolitan centers for work purposes? It might not have to. Not with the recent rise of coworking spaces. Let’s look at this emerging trend that’s bringing urban-style office settings to the Texas suburbs.

What are flex offices?

They are private offices, usually in coworking spaces shared by professionals from different fields. These spaces often include shared amenities such as conference rooms, break rooms, and even warehouse areas. One well-known provider of these spaces is WeWork, with over 240 locations in the United States, while the coworking company Regus operates over 800 such offices in the U.S.

Dallas is a Suburban Flex Office Leader

According to Coworkingcafe.com, the Dallas-Fort Worth area is one of the top coworking suburbs in America; the DFW suburbs have over 120 coworking spaces and counting. With a combined 33 locations, the two DFW suburban towns of Plano and Irving are the hottest local markets for flex offices. Nearby Frisco, Texas has eleven coworking spaces. The WeWork subsidiary Common Desk, which operates twelve flex offices in the DFW area, has plans to open a new coworking space in the suburb of Lake Highlands.

So how much physical space are we talking about? The DFW market ranks sixth in the nation, with around 4.3 million square feet of coworking space. Per location, the average is around 19,300 square feet. Nationally, there are over 113 million square feet of coworking space, with 44% of all flex offices in the suburbs.

Benefits of Working at a Coworking Space

  • Getting out of the house. Many of us tried the “work from home” thing at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. And lots of people initially liked not having to go to the office. But many soon discovered the importance of a boundary between work and home life.
  • Networking. The ability to interact with other like-minded professionals is one of the biggest pluses of flex offices — and one that might give you a career boost.
  • Commute time. One can choose a coworking space close to home, turning a once-long commute to the office into a short, simple drive.
  • Saving money. With shared amenities, the cost of renting space at a flex office is considerably less than leasing commercial real estate.

Home to an ever-growing number of coworking spaces, DFW’s suburban locales are some of the most sought-after places to live in America. Just another reason we love calling DFW home.