Tobias Wagner, CEO of ShareYourSpace, in an interview with Immobilien Zeitung about sustainability, changing attitudes, coworking, office space provision – and what www.shareyourspace.com has to do with it

Ulrich Schüppler, 05.12.2019, Real Estate Newspaper

 

Tobias Wagner has launched ShareYourSpace, a platform designed to make unused office space usable. This would benefit commuters and landlords, as well as the climate.

 

Immobilien Zeitung: Mr Wagner, you have over 25 years of experience in and with the real estate industry, which is under enormous pressure to justify itself in relation to the climate change debate. How could you deal with this?

Tobias Wagner: I am actually critical, there is a lot that could be done better. Many people talk about sustainability, but what makes real estate sustainable? Not through certificates
such as Leed and DGNB, but by sealing less land from the outset, avoiding unnecessary new construction and reducing traffic. The solution lies in existing buildings: nothing is
more sustainable than better use of existing resources. The most sustainable building is the one that is not built.

 

IZ: You founded ShareYourSpace, a company for arranging and booking temporary office space. Is the solution in platforms like these?

Wagner: Sharing platforms are actually a powerful lever for more sustainability. However, technology is always only an enabler, a lubricant. The decisive factor is the change in
attitudes and values: using becomes more important than owning. I am an advocate of the sharing economy. When I first experienced Airbnb over ten years ago, the concept was not very well known, but today it is part of everyday life. When I booked Airbnb for the first time, I asked myself why such a concept did not exist for office space. By renting out space temporarily, vacant space can be used much more efficiently. That is where we come in: offices, workstations, conference rooms, meeting spaces are usually not occupied 24/7.

 

IZ: Is there actually that much vacant office space in Germany?

Wagner: We have to differentiate: There are hardly any free rental spaces available, but in fact most office spaces are not used for more than 50% of the time. There are many reasons for this:
Reserve space for future growth or too much space. Added to this are times when employees work outside the company, part-time jobs that are only occupied at defined times, etc. The potential is huge: over 500 million square meters of office space in Germany alone. Ready to work. This is where we come in: at ShareYourSpace these spaces can be advertised, found,
booked and paid for. The platform is aimed at everyone with a workspace offer - whether owner or tenant, international corporate or small company - and at anyone who is looking for workspace but cannot or does not want to enter into a long-term commitment: startups, project teams, the self-employed, companies in transition. The advantages: higher space profitability for the provider, the searcher finds the perfect space for the time they need it, where they need it. The flexibility and the possibility of coworking benefit both sides. Last but not least, the biggest lever for more sustainability in the real estate industry is being moved.

 

IZ: What periods of time are we talking about when we talk about temporary rentals? And how do tenants and landlords find each other?

Wagner: The rental period ranges from one hour to one year. The principle is: plug and work, i.e. plug in the power cable and get started. Desks, office space (from a single room to the entire floor) as well as meeting and conference rooms can be offered and booked. There are offers for sole use and those for coworking. Unlike with most coworking providers, the tenant can specify which representatives of other industries or companies he would most like to stay with. The landlord, in turn, can define desired tenants and exclude certain tenants, as well as specify that the booking will only take place once he has approved the tenant. In this way, targeted synergies can be created: from shared space to a joint project.

 

IZ: What about large companies that rent out space where their own employees work? Isn't there a risk of being spied on by temporary tenants?

Wagner: Corporate real estate management in large companies is the most complex case. Security needs must be taken into account in particular - who has access to which space and when? There is an ecosystem of technical solutions for this, and ShareYourSpace also offers them. The fact is that access already works for cleaning staff and visitors. So it is primarily a question of mentality whether a company is prepared to temporarily accommodate non-company employees in its own offices.

 

IZ: How do you think the coworking market will develop in the future?

Wagner: The need for spatial and temporal flexibility is there and will continue to increase. Companies, business and thus space requirements are dynamic. Rigid office solutions with long-term rental contracts do not reflect this. The growing number of coworking providers is evidence of this change in needs. However, coworking operators are by nature limited to certain locations and standardized space products that they have to sell at a high price. The business model works best when there is a shortage of space overall. Our idea of ​​an office-as-a-service is much more comprehensive: We want to make space usable in all locations, at all sites, with all equipment and in all sizes. A business model that works in all market phases. And the more existing offices are used better, the greater the boost for sustainability.

 

IZ: Mr. Wagner, thank you very much for the interview!

 

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The interview was conducted by Ulrich Schüppler.