Want to beat Hong Kong’s sky-high office rents? Try co-working spaces that cost three times less
Shared space can be a viable alternative for companies in the world’s most expensive location for conventional offices, according to research
Hong Kong is the most expensive city in the world to rent office space, so instead why not take a desk in a co-working space that will cost you three times less?
The rented desk option will set you back a mere US$7,607 a year, according to research by UK-based Instant Group, which helps companies find office space. That is a lot less than the average US$27,432 per year for regular office space, according to separate research by real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield, and would make Hong Kong only the seventh most expensive location.
“It is a commonly held misperception that flexible space, which offers shorter contract lengths and fully serviced offerings, can prove to be a more expensive proposition for a business,” said John Duckworth, managing director of the Instant Group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“But both the market data and our experience with clients entering the local market show that flexible space is proving to be a viable, low-cost alternative.”
Co-working spaces have proliferated rapidly in Hong Kong in the last two years, with global players setting up in the city, including New York-based WeWork, the world’s largest shared office operator, Amsterdam-based Spaces and Shanghai-based Naked Hub, Asia’s top operator.
Local developers have also jumped into the fray, with Swire Properties opening its first space in October.