Flexible workspaces provider IWG has opened a new Regus office in a four-building Macropolis complex in central Miskolc. 

Co-working space provider WeWork, which was once valued at $47 billion, has been forced to file for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US. The filing is set to provide the company with protection from its creditors and landlords as it restructures its vast debts. Based on its latest share price, WeWork is now worth less than $50 million.

IWG, the owner of the Regus brand, has secured 1338 sqm of commercial space in the newest large residential complex in Hungary’s rapidly developing regional city, Szeged. Regus Cédrus Liget Offices will offer serviced spaces for smaller and startup companies.

New York and San Francisco have emerged as the most expensive flexible office markets worldwide, while Berlin is one of the fastest-growing European markets, according to Workthere, a flexible office listing platform launched by Savills, that helps occupiers find flexible workspace.

The size of companies shapes the way in which they plan to resume work in office buildings, commented key speakers during the post-COVID-19 workplace strategies panel of CEE Property Forum 2021, Property Forum's first real-life event back in Vienna since 2019 which was attended by over 400 people coming from countries all over the region and beyond.

IWG has announced the opening of a brand-new centre in the Szervita Square Building in Budapest. The centre, which opened last month, is operating under the Signature brand, which provides workspaces in the most sought-after locations in the world.

Major upgrades have launched recently in the myhive Haller Gardens office building, owned by Immofinanz in Budapest and a showroom has been completed in the first phase as planned. The large-scale renovation will affect the entire office building. In addition to the significant energy and technical improvements, the building’s exterior facade, community and office spaces, restaurant and café will be renovated, just as the roof terrace and surrounding garden that will be significantly rebuilt.

The coronavirus pandemic will transform the office property market, significantly driving demand for flex workspace solutions. In the next 12-18 months, flex formats will increase to approximately 30% of total modern office spaces in Central and Eastern Europe from 3-5% before the crisis. The winners will be landlords and operators who focus on flex office hubs which offer clients not only flex and flex & core formats but an integrated work/life service concept, according to a new report by flex space operator New Work.

A dramatic shift in the terms, functionality and layout of office rental space is predicted as a direct result of the global pandemic. Organisations could begin to develop innovative strategies that prevent and tackle environmental disasters which encompass disaster recovery plans and hygiene enablers. FreeOfficeFinder.com, an online agent marketing over 2500 UK serviced office providers, has spoken with tenants and landlords to gather perspectives and predictions of how the pandemic will drive changes and considerations for selecting office space.

The phenomenal growth of the ‘flex’ sector is set to continue apace in years to come, with flexible workspace in EMEA grow by over 50% by 2022 and the number of office workers occupying this space growing to 750,000 across the region. That’s according to global real estate advisor, Colliers International, which recently released its Flexible Workspace Outlook Report 2019.