The footprint of coworking spaces in Palm Beach and Broward counties surged last year, while growth was more moderate in Miami-Dade County.
In South Florida, West Palm Beach-Boca Raton led the way, with flex offices surging year-over-year by nearly 23%, ending the year at 1.19million square feet, according to CoworkingCafe’s latest market report.
Fort Lauderdale also posted double-digit growth, with a coworking footprint that rose by 18% since the end of 2024, up to 1.77 million square feet.
In Miami, year-over-year growth was more modest, at just under 7%. But with a coworking footprint that now spans 3.19 million square feet — more than Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Boca Raton combined — it remains South Florida’s biggest flex office market.
When taken together, South Florida’s 6.15 million square feet of coworking spaces make it the country’s No. 6 biggest flex office market.
Nationwide, the footprint of coworking spaces rose last year to 159 million square feet, representing about 2.2% of total U.S. office inventory.
Overall, expansion continued but geography narrowed, according to CoworkingCafe, with growth last year largely concentrated in a small number of established markets.
“The theme looking forward seems to be, ‘Where can operators and office building owners meet the needs of corporate occupiers that are committed to growing coworking and flexible footprints?’” said Peter Kolaczynski of Yardi Research, a CoworkingCafe sister company.
In terms of pricing, South Florida offers a mixed bag forflex office tenants. Across the tri-county region, pricing for a virtual office remained well below the national median, while the cost of a day pass or monthly membership exceeded nationwide norms.
There’s also variety within South Florida. For instance, West Palm Beach-Boca Raton offers the cheapest monthly virtual offices, but the priciest monthly memberships. On the other hand, Fort Lauderdale’s the best deal for hourly meeting rooms.
On the landlord’s side, coworking giant International Workplace Group (LSE: IWG) continued to dominate South Florida’s flex office market as the top coworking space provider across the board.
The Switzerland-based public company operates at least 41coworking spaces across the tri-county region, according to CoworkingCafe. IWG’s flex offices are branded under the names Regus and HQ.
“We view the entire state of Florida as an ideal place to expand, as it is a significant business hub with 22 Fortune 500 companies headquartered throughout the state,” founder and CEO Mark Dixon told the Business Journal last year.
Other major local operators include Miami-based Quest Workspaces and New York-based Industrious, which is owned by national real estate giant CBRE (NYSE: CBRE).Just last month, Industrious opened its first location in Boca Raton.
South Florida has seen strong demand for coworking spaces since the COVID-19 pandemic, when individuals and businesses moved in and needed to set up new offices quickly. As a gateway to Latin America, the tri-county region also attracts international businesses that want to place employees in this market without leasing or purchasing their own spaces.