Based in 2016, The Nice Room now operates seven places in Singapore & has expanded to Australia, Hong Kong, and Thailand
As soon as touted as the way forward for work, coworking has misplaced a lot of its early buzz. The idea—constructed on flexibility, neighborhood, and affordability—was meant to be an alternative choice to inflexible conventional places of work. But, in a post-pandemic panorama dominated by hybrid work, enthusiasm for shared areas has waned.
A lot of the negativity got here when the sector’s largest participant, WeWork, dramatically stumbled. The American coworking large infamously botched its IPO in 2019, filed for chapter in 2023, and closed two key locations in Singapore in 2024: a dramatic fall from its US$47 billion valuation and portfolio of 485 locations across 28 countries just five years earlier.
This raises the query of whether or not coworking nonetheless is smart within the 12 months 2025. In any case, when staff can work at home and firms downsize their actual property footprint, demand for communal places of work isn’t what it was once.
So the one query that continued to bug us was: Is the coworking scene dying out? We spoke to Su Anne Mi, co-founder and CEO of homegrown coworking operator The Great Room, to get a way of how the trade is doing.
Elevating co-working since 2016
Su Anne’s journey started when she casually rented out her spare bed room and a neighboring house on Airbnb for additional money, which sparked an curiosity in internet hosting and connecting with individuals from totally different walks of life.
This led her to affix forces together with her brother, Yian Huang, and sister-in-law, Jaelle Ang, to create a coworking answer impressed by the hospitality of motels.
A lot of their early conferences with buyers, purchasers and designers have been held at numerous motels, such because the Conrad. “We’d have espresso conferences for like hours and hours, which felt utterly totally different from like inviting somebody to your front room and having a gathering there,” Su Anne shared, noting that the hospitality they skilled turned the primary ethos for The Nice Room.
At a time when most coworking companies targeted on affordability or specialisations like startups, The Nice Room positioned itself otherwise, providing elevated experiences at Grade A places of work, which is the highest classification for commercial buildings in real estate.
“We wish to have a product that’s extra geared in the direction of grown-ups, moderately than simply startups,” Su Anne defined.
How The Nice Room tailored to the change in working
When The Nice Room launched in 2016, it turned a hub for MNCs and C-suite executives, who loved collaborating in and internet hosting networking mixers and weekly complimentary occasions just like the Monday Breakfast Membership, which, you guessed it, presents free breakfast and low on Mondays.
However hybrid work has modified the foundations. The pandemic proved many roles could possibly be carried out remotely, and strict return-to-office mandates were often met with backlash.
Coworking areas like The Nice Room provide a versatile answer that balances staff’ need for autonomy with employers’ want for collaboration—a profit that, based on Su Anne, has attracted firms that beforehand didn’t think about it as a productive working expense.
Apart from bigger MNCs, its members span throughout tech, finance, life-style, social enterprises and non-profit organisations, with workforce sizes rising from 20 to 100 because the firm’s inception.
“That has additionally compelled us to degree up our sport,” added Su Anne. “We’ve needed to be sure that not solely is the providing and the design top-notch, however the IT and safety, all of the seamless safety components additionally should be top-notch.”
Regardless of charging increased costs than different operators in Singapore, The Nice Room has shared that members have been willing to pay for the hotel-like facilities and activations it presents. Whereas she saved figures beneath wraps, Su Anne shared that the enterprise has seen regular year-on-year development in membership demand over the previous 5 years.
In response to a 2023 Insights by PropertyLimBrothers article, The Nice Room has skilled a 30% year-on-year income improve since 2019. The enterprise additionally noticed development in its total occupancy charges, from a median of 90% pre-pandemic to between 95 and 100% throughout its six Singapore places in 2023, bringing its tenant base to three,000.
The corporate has since added one other location in Singapore and now operates seven places within the metropolis, together with a 72,000 sqft coworking space in Paya Lebar Quarter co-managed with Australian property group Lendlease. Internationally, it expanded to Bangkok and Hong Kong in 2018 and 2019, respectively, earlier than being acquired by New York-based flexible workplace provider Industrious in 2022.
These strikes have enabled and accelerated The Nice Room’s native and international enlargement, together with two launches in Sydney—the primary location having a whopping 71% opening occupancy charge in 2024, based on Edgeprop—and two new Singapore places at Shaw Tower and Stamford Courtroom (which will likely be renamed Stamford Place) slated for 2026.
So… is co-working dying?
For Su Anne, coworking isn’t dying, it’s simply evolving.
Co-working remains to be very robust, it’s been very resilient. It had moments the place it’s been actually excessive and low, however I feel that the general demand for flexibility for a worldwide presence has simply been by means of the roof since COVID-19.
“I don’t suppose that [that demand] has modified, no matter how numerous gamers within the trade have gone up or down. I feel that the general demand remains to be a really optimistic one,” she shared.
Apart from introducing new places, The Nice Room has additionally acquired a small variety of enquiries from firms for them to create and run their very own workplace areas with facilities, occasions, and networking initiatives much like these supplied at their coworking places.
“These international occupiers are coming to us and saying, ‘I would like my groups to return again, I would like them to really feel particular and empowered and delighted. And I truly don’t actually wish to run it. Are you able to try this for us? We like what you’re doing,’” Su Anne defined.
To fulfill this rising demand, the workforce is growing a ‘managed answer’ arm, which customises areas for firms whereas reflecting their model and tradition.
Extra room to develop
Regardless of WeWork’s many blunders, coworking as an trade appears removed from lifeless.
The Nice Room’s trajectory reveals that success within the house now requires adaptation, elevated experiences, and considerate design.
The mannequin is maturing from easy desks for startups to curated, hotel-inspired environments for professionals and firms.
In brief: the trade is evolving—and there’s nonetheless ample room to develop.
- Be taught extra about The Nice Room here.
- Learn extra tales we’ve written on Singaporean companies here.
Featured Picture Credit score: The Nice Room
