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PROPERTY

positive note, the pandemic has given us the
acumen to better design our services.”
Meanwhile, according to Dreamplex,
another co-working space operator, the
biggest change in tenants is that they focus
more on the workplace experience, on using
the office as an attractive venue that helps
with employer branding and allows them
to attract, engage, and retain key talent.
Covid-19 made more companies reassess
their office needs, after recognizing that
some employees could work from home on
certain days of the week without the actual
work suffering. Given that office space is a
real cost for companies, many thought again
about why they need a large office space in
central districts where they pay for desks,
common areas, and meeting rooms, whether
used or not. “We’ve seen an increase in
inquiries for more flexible solutions,” Mr.
Daan van Rossum, Chief Experience Officer
at Dreamplex, told VET. “For many compa-
nies, traditional co-working spaces aren’t
attractive, because they are not private enough
PHOTO: VIET TUAN
and the company brand and culture suffer.
Therefore, Dreamplex has pivoted towards
Space race offering private, branded office space for
companies of up to 200 people, inside a com-
plex with many private and shared facilities.”
Thanks to new strategies, Dreamplex cur-
Developers of co-working spaces have adopted new strategies to rently has five locations across Ho Chi Minh
attract new tenants and retain the model’s potential in Vietnam’s City and Hanoi with over 1,000 members.
real estate market. After a modest dip in occupancy during
Covid-19, most of its mature co-working
space locations have seen high occupancy in
T NGOC LAN REPORTS
recent months. This year saw it launch its
latest location in the southern city.
According to real estate consultants JLL,
co-working space is a model that used to be
oong co-working space is now prepar- comed customers such as corporations and popular only among freelancers, startups, and
ing for the opening of three new loca- large-scale companies that generally only use information technology workers in Vietnam.
T tions in Ho Chi Minh City and one in traditional office models or office space in But it’s not only small, nimble businesses that
Hanoi, according to the company. It will also Grade A buildings, such as Bayer, Canadian require an option other than three-year mini-
continue to cooperate with Wink Hotels to Solar, Isuzu, GlaxoSmithKline, Colliers Inter- mum office leases. Increasingly, large firms
deploy three co-working space projects inte- national, Cushman & Wakefield, Serenity Hold- are looking to co-working spaces as a temporary
grated into new generation hotels in central ing, and Soletanche Bachy. “Our services not solution to their office needs before finding a
Da Nang city and the Mekong Delta’s Can only satisfy the office needs of small and longer-term location, as well as for testing a
Tho city in the time to come. “The benefits medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” said Mr. new market or having satellite offices for
and value from co-working spaces have Duong Do. “Large and longstanding corpora- remote workers. “We expect a significant shift
received greater attention from businesses tions and companies are also looking to Toong in co-working space operating models, with
in diverse industries and of different scale,” as an effective office solution, with stable and landlords self-performing their own flexible
Mr. Duong Do, CEO of Toong, told VET. safe service quality, so that they can feel assured, space or signing management agreements
“Toong is therefore proving that co-working have the flexibility to change, and reform the with flexible space operators,” said Ms. Pham
space is an option in terms of operational management and operations of the office.” Kim Xuan, Head of Marketing Vietnam at JLL.
and management solutions, and not just Moreover, Toong’s total revenue in 2020
because of its lower cost.” increased some 15 per cent compared to 2019. Problems & prospects
It has sites under construction but 70 per Developers still face certain challenges
New strategies, new tenants cent of space has been booked. “We believe when operating co-working spaces. According
In2020, in addition to actively implement- the Covid-19 pandemic is both a challenge to JLL, just as traditional corporate offices
ing measures to ensure health and safety, and an opportunity to demonstrate that our have become deserted, so too have flexible
Toong was one of the first to apply facial services can resolve the core problems of the offices and co-working spaces. As tenant
recognition technology to combine temperature business,” said Mr. Duong Do. “The co-working priorities have shifted to employee health
checks and mask wearing control at the space model can be developed well if we know and well-being, the demand for short-term
entrance to each location. As a result, it wel- how to flexibly adapt to each situation. On a desks, shared offices, and new memberships

46 | VIETNAM ECONOMIC TIMES | APRIL 2021