The Essential Amenity Powering D.C.'s Coworking Spaces
Whether they are refreshing news sites for the latest Supreme Court decision or uploading files to the cloud, workers in Washington can’t be held back by a bad connection at the office. And increasingly, that connection is now being accessed from within one of the D.C. area's many coworking spaces.
JLL recently ranked Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia in the top 10 markets best positioned for coworking growth, citing a preponderance of nonprofit agencies, political advocacy outfits and lobbying groups that reside in the nation’s capital and that find coworking's flexible nature appealing.
As flexible workspaces spread across the Potomac and up 14th Street, though, D.C. tenants have more choices — in addition to the premium amenities that flexible space providers have made commonplace, coworking operators need to offer something that can set them apart from their competitors. And for a few operators, that something is superior in-building technology.
“In the world of coworking, where leases are flexible, a bad wireless connection can drive a tenant away from your space,” WiredScore Senior Director of Business Development Phil Kanfer said. “Especially in Washington, great connectivity and digital infrastructure are key for workplace satisfaction and foundational for the experience that tenants now expect.”
While D.C.’s more traditional legal services and government tenants have historically avoided coworking spaces due to security and privacy concerns, demand has been strong from government-adjacent tenants, tech firms and enterprise-level businesses.
The region has already seen a flurry of leasing and growth from providers of flexible office space and is set to become even more popular in the coming year. Last spring, WeWork edged out the District's major law firms and consulting companies to become the largest private office tenant in D.C.
Coworking and co-meeting company Convene has doubled its market presence with a pair of recent leases, including a 72K SF space at Terrell Place, Beacon Capital Partners’ Wired Certified Gold development in the heart of Penn Quarter.
Across the river in Northern Virginia, tech companies are setting up shop in coworking spaces near the new National Landing. Thanks to Amazon’s arrival and Virginia Tech’s coming innovation campus, the area is primed to be a hub for tech talent and growth. As these types of tenants need to iterate, upload and revise code across local and cloud servers, their technology demands for their workspace are critically important requirements when selecting workspace.
The ebb and flow of people who work in Washington pivots heavily on election cycles — every two to four years, it’s in with the new and out with the old — and that leaves a void to be filled in an ever-changing job market that is well-suited for flexible office spaces.
Kanfer said coworking operators in Washington are catching on that their tenants need best-in-class connectivity, and have invested in digital upgrades, as well as certification programs like WiredScore that rate their technological infrastructure so they can highlight their commitment to connectivity to potential tenants.
Four of WeWork’s locations in D.C. are in Wired Certified properties: Boston Properties’ Metropolitan Square, Meridian Group’s 700 K St. NW, Columbia Property Trust’s 80 M St. SE and Bentall Kennedy’s 777 Sixth St. NW.
While WeWork dominates coworking space in D.C., other coworking operators in Northern Virginia are also leveraging digital connectivity, including Industrious at Jamestown’s Wired Certified Platinum Ballston Exchange in Arlington and Spaces at Monday Properties’ Wired Certified Silver 1101 Wilson Blvd. in Rosslyn.
“Tenants of all types are flocking to coworking properties in Washington, and they can all benefit from a seamless digital experience,” Kanfer said. “Connectivity is the engine that makes these spaces operate successfully, and Wired Certification can help landlords ensure their buildings are equipped to handle the unique requirements a coworking tenant can present during the leasing process."
This feature was produced in collaboration between Bisnow Branded Content and WiredScore. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.
