Increased profitability by offering more flexibility? : Flexible workspace from the perspective of a commercial real estate owner

Abstract: This study aims to examine flexible workspaces from the perspective of a real estate owner. The research questions include how flexible workspaces will develop in Stockholm, how well the provision of flexible workspaces fit into the business model for real estate companies and how they can accommodate solutions on flexibility in their portfolio.  The method used consists of two parts, firstly a case study performed on the London based real estate company British Land who have developed a concept for flexible workspace called Storey. The second part consisted of eleven interviews with representatives from real estate companies in Stockholm. By combining these two parts, a sound basis for mapping the success factors for how to extend a business model by offering flexible workspaces along with an appreciation of its future development could be made. The findings include the real estate companies’ perception that increased levels of flexibility will be a common sight in the real estate landscape in the future. There are however several different approaches on which strategy to choose in order to offer concepts for flexibility in an office portfolio, all depending on the organisational structure and business model for the individual real estate company. The contribution of this study is therefore that real estate companies can gain a number of benefits by offering flexibility in their portfolio.