Coworking Heads to the Suburbs

It’s long been the case that as young urban couples start to expand their families, many of them move to the suburbs. The prospect of a larger living space, a yard, a place to park a car—it’s attractive. If anything, the ability to work at home during Covid made it more possible.

And it can continue to be possible, thanks to a new trend. As coworking matures and becomes a more established property sector in its own right, it, too, is heading to the suburbs. That’s the next frontier for expansion, as Olivia Bunescu discusses in “The New Coworking Map Expands Outside the CBD.”

It makes sense, and not just because people don’t want a long commute but also want a more professional office space. While more companies have called employees back to the office with some amount of regular frequency, a growing number are meeting those employees halfway by opening suburban satellite offices.

In the right locations, these offices can be a smart business move, increasing the prospect pool while maintaining the office culture at a lower cost than CBD space. Secondary markets “are now the primary destination for regional talent,” one coworking provider told Bunescu.

Of course, opening an office anywhere is an investment that comes with risk. That’s what gives coworking facilities a competitive edge. As they’re expanding in suburban markets, they’re leaning in to leasing self-contained enterprise spaces to corporate clients.

This option makes the decision easier for the client, since it allows them to maintain their own office with greater flexibility to grow, shrink and make use of amenities as needed. They can also manage their corporate culture and make a lot of their own decisions on office needs without having to do the heavy lifting of making those needs a reality. (Plus, drawing on shared space for meeting rooms and additional desks won’t cut into the professional work experience, since today’s coworking facilities are far from the freewheeling environment of the early days.)

And urban-headquartered companies are not the only prospect for this new suburban coworking expansion. The flexibility may be attractive for smaller, locally based companies, as well. Why sign a long-term lease when you can grow or shrink your space as needed and have greater access to capital for more pressing business needs? It’s likely a new concept for such entities but one with a lot of bandwidth.

So be on the lookout for this new arrival to the suburbs. No kids, no dog—just a new concept for greater business flexibility.

Read the May 2026 issue of CPE.