THIS year marks the fifth anniversary of my column, First Dibs in Real Estate, and as a continued service to this industry I love. For our fifth anniversary and in sync with the thrust of my mother publication, the BusinessMirror, we enjoin all the players in the industry to look into the future with us.
For the “First Dibs in Real Estate 2019,” we’ll focus on resilience of areas at risk; emergence of new growth areas; the nascent technologies that would shake and change us; and the shared economy that will shape demand.
I am going to give you a teaser of our forthcoming special-cum-industry report coming out in the BusinessMirror at the end of the month and a REfuturism Forum on November 20 in Spaces, Bonifacio Global City. Moreover, the industry players will be coming together to honor each other’s advocacies and work in the industries with the first ever REAdvocates2018.
We have nine interesting breakout sessions
- Creating and designing emerging cities;
- Inclusion and women in real estate;
- Teching up the real-estate industry;
- Working and living in a shared economy;
- The master builders, designers, architects who shape the industry;
- Sustainable offices of the future;
- Real estate and the new retail experience;
- Sustainability and real estate; and
- Financing in real estate, REIT, ICOs, tokenized estate/real estate and capital markets.
We start today with a series of future-looking companies and segments in the industry that are most vulnerable to disruption.
I spoke to my good friend Lars Wittig, who for many months now has been keeping this special product under wraps.
Spaces is considered to be a creative working environment with a unique entrepreneurial spirit.
What have you applied to Spaces in World Plaza to make this vision a reality? In terms of the overall design and architecture of the space, what kind of vibe do you anticipate Spaces to have?
First of all, the entire aim is different. It originated from Amsterdam, and the entire design is northern European. From the best coffee available to the great vibe of the community, they provide the best possible setting for coworking. They allocate the best area for the coworking facilities, which means we maximize the light that comes into the room. We minimize the priority of the offices and put the effort into the community that is wider than anywhere else. There are baby boomers warning neckties, mixing and matching, interacting with millennials with jeans and t-shirts.
How exactly does Spaces tie Filipino heritage with the unique European design?
Things that really bring the place together are the aspects of the Philippines that play more into Spaces than any other country. The Philippines has the entrepreneurial spirit. Very few populations have the vibe as much as the Philippines. Coworking is very much expected by millennials. The average age is 23 to 25. Filipinos love to be social and love to interact. The coworking area is a community. That’s where we interact. As much as Filipinos love to share almost anything about their lives, Filipinos don’t usually like to volunteer that, unless there is an opportunity or a mutual genuine interest where they can interact. Considering the variety of events we have, we create the natural setting and opportunity to facilitate the openness of interaction and exchange of information, and exchange of ideas. The key words here are community, synergy and sharing.
There are several other coworking/flexible spaces being launched or operated in the Philippines. In what way does it differ from existing flexible spaces?
For a major coworking facility, the location is absolutely pivotal. We need to be in an area called “ground zero.” There is a lot of foot traffic, an area where people like to walk around even on weekends. You must be on top of Bonifacio High Street, or near Greenbelt (where the second location will be). When we decide on where we like to open Spaces in a city or a municipality, we look at a secret indication: car dealers. Car dealers are good at finding out exactly who passes where and how much is the traffic. Spaces in World Plaza is near Ferrari and Maserati! I personally own a Toyota myself, but if you could choose, of course you choose Ferrari!
A flexible working space can be open to a wide variety of talented individuals. What kind of community do you envision Spaces to be known for?
This is where we differentiate ourselves. We have a very wide audience and a wide group of members. Entrepreneurs, millennials, start-ups along with the multinationals and Fortune 500s. That’s why there is an emphasis on ambiance, a fantastic and cool ambiance to it. Everybody can very much feel at home, regardless of what kind of industry you represent. This is reflected from the type of events.
For example, we have an SME partner for events. We are partnered with women in business under the European Chamber of commerce. We are partnered with artists and artrepreneurs. We have such a variety. They have only been open for two weeks and have exceeded 1,000 visitors. We have 815 square meters of just coworking space and a total of 3,200 sq m for the community. Not to mention in a very premium location, that nobody else can open. If you don’t have the location you won’t get the traffic. That is a requirement because it’s the buzz.
Setting aside Spaces from the conventional workspace, how do you ensure that this becomes a learning space more than just a workspace? What type of community-building activities do you hold? What are existing community-building and learning programs are in your pipeline coming up where interested professionals, from entrepreneurs, multinational companies and even start-ups can participate in to learn and network?
The event schedules are being updated. Contact Spaces for events that might be of special interest. We work with the biggest and the smallest companies. For instance, every month we promote one SME. They put up a display for a full month in the coworking area where they can talk about it and present in the community. In Spaces, you learn from people you interact with. That’s important. Millennials who are successful are successful because of these kinds of connections. This is what Spaces wants to be able to offer. Here, Baby boomers and millennials can benefit from each other. Today, if you are a Fortune 500 company, you can remain one of those for barely 10 years. That’s nothing! Things are moving so fast they don’t have the luxury of learning about changes in the industry because there are limited sources. You can’t learn this in a classroom anymore. We have to learn by experience, via the community where we belong in and are part of.”
How does this tie to the overall positioning of Regus and also of IWG?
IWG is the largest provider in the world by far of what we refer to as flexible working. But different companies and different people have different preferences. We go for different styles just like with hotels and resorts. At the end of the day, they are offering a room with a bed. But each has its own preferences.
I personally like boutique hotels, and some people some like hotels that are the same all over the world. Regus is about work style, network that has more than 3,000 locations. They look the same and have the same vibe, we have business lounges. What’s different is that there is no jam-packed event schedule available for each business lounge.
Spaces is about lifestyle and community. The great thing is, there is a different vibe of community based on location—a network within an area. There is flexibility with Spaces. The primary motivation for Spaces is the community and coworking element. This is a lifestyle. Our slogan is “Welcome home!—er, I mean, welcome to work!”