6 Strategies For Operating A Successful Coworking-Coliving Space

In 2023, the global coliving market was valued at a whopping $13,285.27 million, and it’s projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 29.9% until 2032. So if you own or operate a coworking space and are searching for new revenue streams, you may want to consider turning your business into a coworking and coliving space.

In a world where housing costs are skyrocketing and people are increasingly turning to remote work, coworking-coliving spaces provide an ideal solution. They allow freelancers and remote workers to travel and find community, without breaking the bank on high rental costs or committing to long-term leases.

Here we dive into why coworking-coliving spaces are on the rise, how they attract members, and what you can do to make yours a success.

Quick Summary

• Coworking-coliving spaces are becoming more popular as younger generations are increasingly opting for remote jobs, looking for alternatives to expensive housing costs, and seeking flexibility in their living arrangements.
• Freelancers, digital nomads, and entrepreneurs are turning to coworking and coliving because of the community-building opportunities, amenities, and low-commitment membership options.
• Choosing a favorable location, prioritizing safety, and providing a variety of membership options can help attract new members to your space.

What Are Coworking-Coliving Spaces?

Coworking-coliving spaces (also called coplaces) are hybrid spaces where members can live, work, and find community and connection, all in one building. They offer flexible living arrangements that serve as alternatives to traditional, long-term leases.

The types of people that coworking and coliving spaces attract vary. You’ll primarily see freelancers, digital nomads, and younger adults without families — all people who seek flexibility and affordable costs of living. More established professionals also use coplaces when traveling for work. Some even offer childcare options.

A major draw for potential members is the opportunity to participate in fun classes and activities, so often the market for coliving includes people who want community.

Typically, members in these spaces share common areas like living rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms, but they have their own private bedrooms (although sometimes there are options to share bedrooms as well).

For the most part, they also share chores, including cooking, cleaning, and laundry. However, some buildings offer these services for an extra fee.

Coliving Space Models

Under the coliving umbrella, you’ll find a variety of different model types. You can offer your members plans that last days, weeks, or months, with options to extend when their stays are up.

You can provide private or shared rooms or add-ons like personal amenities and services. But the basic premise is that someone rents an apartment or room in a building that has a coworking space.

Why Are Coworking-Coliving Spaces Becoming More Popular?

Back in 2016, coworking juggernaut WeWork expanded its brand to include WeLive, a series of residential spaces that focus on creating community.

Also, in the years leading up to the pandemic, millennials were known as the first generation to seek out coliving spaces for their affordability in big cities and opportunities for connection.

But then, from 2019 to 2021, the number of people working from home more than tripled. Freelancers, digital nomads, and other workers found themselves without ties to physical offices, which left them free to reimagine their living and working situations even further.

So it’s a combination of factors — the rise of remote work, the need for affordable living, and the work preferences of the upcoming generations — that has paved the way for coplaces.

Let’s dive deeper into the reasons coworking-coliving spaces are becoming more popular in 2024 and 2025.

The Rise of Remote Work

As remote work is becoming increasingly common, the number of digital nomads and freelancers continues to grow worldwide.

In 2024 alone, there are about 76.4 million freelancers in the US. This results in a large population that craves community since they’re not surrounded by people in a traditional office setting. With coworking-coliving spaces, they can make friends where they live and work.

Coworking-Coliving Spaces Offer Affordable Living Arrangements

Coworking, coliving, and more generally flexible workspaces tend to be more affordable for members than traditional setups.

This means they’re a great option for freelancers and digital nomads, as they often allow them to travel and work without breaking the bank.

College graduates and young professionals who want to live in major cities but can’t afford the rent can also save by opting for this more communal, more cost-friendly way of life.

Younger Generations Are Seeking Flexibility

Thanks to remote work, younger generations are finding freedom from in-office jobs. But this desire for flexibility extends to their living arrangements as well.

This makes coworking and coliving spaces attractive alternatives. They require less commitment than buying a home or a year-long apartment lease.

What Do Members Look for in a Coworking-Coliving Space?

If you’re thinking about starting or expanding a coworking-coliving space, let’s take a look at what attracts members to these communal living spaces.

Opportunities for Belonging (and Fun)

One of the main reasons people are attracted to coworking, coliving, and flexible office spaces is the community that comes with them.

Host events that actively foster a sense of belonging and allow your residents to get to know each other. They can be professionally oriented, geared toward personal growth, or just plain fun.

Offer activities, events, classes, and workshops to bring residents together and attract new members. For example, The Collective Old Oak, a coworking coliving space in London, offers perks like yoga classes, pasta-making classes, and graffiti workshops.

Membership Plans That Don’t Break the Bank

To ensure your membership plans are affordable, conduct market research and set your prices in line with those of your competitors.

Make sure that your plans are also more affordable alternatives to housing options, like hostels and Airbnbs, in your area.

You can also make it easy for members to pay for multiple services at once. You can include rent, utilities, and a coworking space fee all in one (weekly or monthly) payment for your members, which simplifies billing for everyone.

Amenities That Dazzle

Just because these spaces are on the affordable side doesn’t mean they need to be barebones. In fact, part of the draw is that members can live in a nicer place (often with plenty of amenities) for less.

Offering amenities like pools and rooftop gardens can help differentiate your space from other temporary living solutions for digital nomads and freelancers. It can elevate your building to feel more like a hotel but at a reduced cost.

Amenities like yoga spaces and game rooms are also attractive to members because they help encourage work-life balance, which can be difficult for freelancers, who don’t necessarily have set work hours.

Safe Spaces

It’s important that your coworking-coliving space offers community and privacy. After all, no one wants to be social all the time. Everyone needs the option to retreat to their own private space, especially when they live and work in the same location.

Ensuring your members’ privacy also means protecting their belongings in both living and working areas. With so many people around all the time, it’s important that each of your residents feels confident that their things are safe and secure.

Low-Commitment Options

Typically, your clientele for a coworking-coliving space prefers a flexible lifestyle. They’re likely digital nomads, professionals traveling for work, or freelancers who’ll seek out one of these options instead of a hotel. So if you try to lock them into year-long leases, you may deter them from joining.

Instead, offer flexible membership options so that your residents can stay or leave as they please (within reason).

You can try to entice them to extend their stay by offering deals on room fares. For instance, a coworking-coliving company in Indonesia called Outpost offers a 20% discount for residents who stay longer than 28 nights.

What Are the Challenges of Running a Coworking-Coliving Space (And How to Overcome Them?

You may encounter the following challenges when running a coliving space, but here’s how to overcome them.

Operating 24/7

While there are some 24/7 coworking spaces, the majority are only open during the day. So if you’re incorporating coliving into your coworking space, you’ll run into the additional challenge of extending your operating hours.

Because your residents will be living in your space around the clock, you essentially can’t close. This means you’ll need night and weekend staff to ensure your members are safe and comfortable 24/7.

Taking into account their wages and additional operating costs associated with keeping your place open every day, it can be more expensive to run a coworking-coliving space.

Managing Your Space

When your clients live and work in the same space, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to creating an optimal layout.

You’ll need a wide variety of rooms for the coworking area, including private meeting rooms, private offices, and an open working floor. For the living section, you’ll need bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and living rooms.

It can be challenging to nail down the right amount of space that makes your guests comfortable without overspending.

And in addition to choosing the right size and placement for all those areas, it’s important to keep them safe and clean. This means hiring a team to maintain your space.

Marketing to a New Audience

If you’re adding a coliving area to your coworking space, you’ll have to learn how to market to a slightly different audience. While many of your client base may be the same (like freelancers), they’ll be searching for new features from a living area.

Plus, signing up for a living space is more of a commitment. Many of your potential new members won’t get to see your building in person ahead of time, so it’s crucial that you provide online visuals of your space. These can look at photos, videos, and 3D tours on your website and social media channels.

You should also advertise all of the community-building events that your place offers, provide reviews from people who have stayed there, and note where you’re located in your city.

SharedEasy is an example of a business that does this well. It offers room photos, a 3D tour, testimonials, information about what to do in the neighborhood, public transportation options, and details about nearby airports.

Another important step is to invest in proper SEO to drive targeted traffic to your website.

6 Strategies for Operating a Coliving Space

Now that you know what potential members are looking for in a coworking-coliving space (and what challenges you may have to overcome), here are a few strategies and best practices to get you started.

Understand Your Members

Before you begin with any of the other tips on this list, take some time to get an idea of what type of member you’re targeting. In other words, what’s your Ideal Customer Profile.

This way, you can build a space that meets their needs. For example, is your business meant for people in creative jobs, corporate professionals, or something else?

Once you’ve decided on your target members, you can design your space around them and ensure they have everything they need to thrive.

Choose a Favorable Location

Digital nomads and freelancers often choose coworking-coliving spaces so they can travel and see the world. They may not be very familiar with your city, so it’s likely they’ll seek out a central location to get their feet wet.

New members likely want a location in the heart of your city, within walking distance of shops, restaurants, and public transportation (if applicable). Try to choose a safe but lively neighborhood.

If you’re deciding which city to start your business in, pick one that will attract digital nomads with warm weather, plenty of activities, nightlife, or proximity to the airport.

Prioritize Safety

Coworking-coliving spaces are still a relatively new concept, even though they’re becoming more popular. It’s understandable that members may be wary of safety, especially when they’re living and working in an unfamiliar place.

Get ahead of their concerns and integrate your safety plan into the building and marketing of your space.

Just like hotels have lockboxes, provide ways for your residents to safely store their valuables. You can also install security cameras and ensure members know how to contact onsite managers if needed.

Optimize Your Technology

It’s crucial to have accurate data to help you understand your customer base and guide your decisions, just like it is with a regular coworking space

Plus, the right technology can help you receive clients’ payments efficiently, check metrics like utilization rates, and easily manage your memberships.

Booking systems can also be a great way for new and existing members to reserve meeting rooms, activity rooms, offices, and other coworking spaces. They help eliminate the risk of double booking, ghost booking, and passive occupancy. Choose a software that is easy to implement, simple for your members to use, and customizable, so you can adjust it to fit your needs.

Offer Attractive Amenities

When it comes to choosing the amenities for your space, pick the ones that your target community will enjoy using. You can also consider what may be helpful or necessary for your location, such as air conditioning and a pool in a hot climate.

Other ideas for amenities include:

• Rooftop or patio access
• Gym
• Kitchenette in your room
• TV in your room
• Sauna
• Private bathroom
• On-site restaurant or coffee shop
• Laundry service
• Game room

Provide a Variety of Membership Options

Since we know the typical customer base for coworking-coliving spaces is looking for flexibility, offer a variety of membership options. For example, let your residents stay for a few weeks to a year, and make it easy for them to renew their plan if they want to.

You can also offer membership tiers based on additional services (like room cleaning), room types (like a one or two-bedroom), or amenities (like a private bathroom).

For instance, The Collective Old Oak offers two-bedroom apartments, one-bedroom apartments, and studios. It provides membership plans that last from three months to a year, with options to renew.

Build a Thriving Community with OfficeRnD Flex

With the rise of remote jobs and people seeking a sense of community where they live and work, coworking-coliving spaces are only becoming more popular. But if you’re opening or running one, you can’t be left in the dark about what is and isn’t working.

It’s important to have secure coworking management software that you can trust.

FAQ

What Is the Difference Between Coworking and Coliving?

Coworking and coliving both involve sharing a space. However, coworking means sharing a working area, while coliving entails sharing a living area.

Coliving spaces typically have private rooms with communal kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms, and activity rooms. They usually also offer events and amenities that coworking spaces may not have, like hobby-based classes or pools.

What Is the Difference Between Shared Living and Coliving?

Shared living usually involves living with roommates in a smaller space, like an apartment or a house. Coliving typically involves a larger space (like a whole floor or building) where all residents share certain rooms, like the kitchen. The latter usually creates opportunities for building a community.

What Are the Cons of Coliving?

Some residents may not like the lack of privacy. Coliving also tends to involve shorter-term stays (that last weeks or months), while it’s common to have year-long leases with apartments. Some residents may feel more settled and secure in a long-term lease.

What Is the Average Age for Coliving?

According to an Outsite survey, the average age for coliving is 35.

What is the Difference Between Office Space and Coworking Space?

The main difference between office space and coworking space lies in flexibility and community. Traditional office spaces are typically leased by a single company for exclusive use, often requiring long-term commitments and personalized setup. Coworking spaces, on the other hand, are shared environments where individuals or businesses can rent desks or offices on flexible terms, with access to communal resources and a collaborative atmosphere. Coworking spaces prioritize networking and adaptability, while traditional offices offer privacy and control.

Can You Sleep in a Coworking Space?

Sleeping in a coworking space is generally not allowed, as these spaces are designed for professional work rather than personal use. However, some coworking spaces offer amenities like nap pods or relaxation rooms where members can take short rests during the day. Policies vary by location, so it’s important to check the specific rules of the coworking space you use.