Despite a shared conceptual goofiness, Austin and coworking never really took off into the stratosphere the way it did in larger coastal cities during the 2010s. There were some heroic attempts to reinvent an old storefront or call center here and there — a last gasp of bespoke localism — and at some point WeWork leased space in at least seven Austin buildings, including 65,000 square feet in The Building That South by Southwest Built at 1400 Lavaca Street to great (or at least some) fanfare. But then, you know, the pandemic and all.
Of course, co-working never really went away, either, and several of those businesses (including a revamped WeWork) still occupy quite a bit of square footage in Austin.
Austin had 75 coworking locations in the last quarter of 2023, according to a new Coworking Cafe report, a 6 percent increase over the previous quarter, which nudged it up to 22nd in the real-estate data site's national list.
The city's average square footage, however, plummeted by 5 percent to 21,888, from 23,030 in October – the biggest drop among the top 25 markets, meaning coworking in Austin is gravitating toward smaller spaces.
Total coworking space in the city rose slightly — 0.4 percent — to 1.64 million square feet during the same quarter. Virtual office subscriptions decreased to $119 per month from the third-quarter rate of $149; open workspaces increased to $150 from $134; and dedicated desks dropped to $403 from $407 quarter over quarter.
