Becoming Hotelian: Co-working/living

In the quest for talent, businesses are inadvertently driving a new era of flexibility into spaces. They are evolving Flex Work Policies that take the form of co-working and co-living space where the brightest of employees are hoping to efficiently balance work and life. A few things employers and employees are seeking:

• Minimal windshield time - A two-hour commute is a two-hour waste of valuable time for both employers and employees.

• "Doing the Work" vs. "Going to Work" - Younger generations are becoming accustomed to disassociating where they go to work vs. the time they dedicate to it.

• Commercial real estate on demand -- for overflow and shorter lease commitments, innovative companies are paying a little more for flexibility.

• Vitamin N - Nature! Proven to drive productivity and happiness.

Many of these characteristics feel a lot like hotels where flexibility, great amenities and freedom rule, thus the term "hotelian"

Companies like LulaFit, and Coeo are combining location searches with amenities and living/working spaces that are made to be flexible with managed amenities that allow the growing millennial generation to focus on experiences, family, mission, or work.

My personal vision is that the metropolitan focus for workspace is a Living 1.0 experiment. For folks like me, small towns have more charm than any city and if I were able to work from a town or near a lake or mountain, I'd be much more satisfied than sitting in a cubicle in a city. For me, Living 2.0 shows up in smaller towns and closer to nature. This is what's driving my next generation commercial real estate effort, where I'm trying to bring together innovators, investors, and designers to build these rural communities, turning affordable (even historic) properties into co-living/working and shared spaces, making them the best place to work and live.