Coworking spaces approach new trends
Coworking spaces approach new trends
The market for coworking spaces in Ho Chi Minh City witnessed impressive growth and vibrant development in 2024 after a long period of gloom.
Working spaces are becoming greener in order to attract young startups, photo Le Toan |
The city saw strong growth in the segment, with demand increasing rapidly and becoming more diverse, clearly reflecting the transformation of the labour market and flexible trends in modern working culture.
At the end of 2024, more than 5,100 square metres of coworking space opened at the Saigon Mia building in Binh Chanh district, with many new features.
According to the investor, Merry Plaza SaiGonMia seamlessly integrated with commerce, such as supermarkets, medical centres, health, beauty, food and beverages, and entertainment, creating an all-in-one model that anticipates all customer needs. This new feature promises to bring an ideal workplace experience to both foreign and domestic tenants, from large businesses to young startups.
Merry Plaza SaiGonMia is operated by Merry Commercial in collaboration with Regus, a member of the IWG Group.
Nguyen Quynh Anh, IWG representative, said the integrated coworking model with a commercial, entertainment centres like SaiGonMia was very promising.
“The success of the model will be ensured by the location and seamless service integration. This is both a challenge and a great opportunity for Merry Plaza,” Quynh Anh said.
Meanwhile, Luong Thi My Thanh, general director of The Executive Centre Vietnam, one of the newest coworking spaces in Ho Chi Minh City, said that for shared work, a workspace no longer needed to be a short-term strategy but must be comprehensively designed to meet the needs of users in the longer term.
“Worker health and sustainability in terms of design and equipment are essential. Furthermore, the workspace will need to have green areas, be provided with maximum natural light, good ventilation and the ability to control the temperature inside the building,” Thanh said.
Another notable trend is the expansion of coworking centres to the suburb’s areas such as Thu Duc city and Binh Chanh and Nha Be districts, which are interested in young startup customers who need flexible but cost-effective working spaces.
At Quang Trung Software Park (District 12), a 10-story office building is about to receive investment and will have three floors used as a coworking space, operated by The Sentry. “We see the software outsourcing segment growing strongly, especially game programming and AI startups,” said co-founder and CEO of The Sentry Greg Ohan.
According to Knight Frank Vietnam, the trend of newly established startups choosing to rent space far from the centres, at affordable prices and conveniently connected to high-tech zones is on the rise.
The average rent in this area is only $96 per person per month. “It’s worth noting that in Thu Duc city and District 12, providers are trying to diversify their services, not just office rentals but also training, development and team building for startups,” said Leo Nguyen, senior director of Occupier Strategy and Solutions at Knight Frank Vietnam.
Hoang Ha, co-founder of a media startup with 12 employees, said she spent $2,500 per month for an 80 sq.m coworking space in Thu Duc.
“We have this cost only in the non-central business district areas. This is an appropriate cost for domestic startup companies like ours. We don’t need a fancy office, just a place to hold regular meetings, assign work to employees and manage the business of groups, while most of the time employees are working on site,” Ha said.
Faced with these positive developments, experts believe 2025 will be an opportunity for commercial real estate operators and operators, including coworking spaces, to expand and increase market share.
Annual research on coworking space in Ho Chi Minh City by Knight Frank Vietnam, showed that in 2024, the rental price per sq.m in Grade A coworking space in Ho Chi Minh City was quoted as an average of $220 per person per month, an increase of 4.5 per cent over 2023.
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Hoang Linh, Co-founder & CEO, CirCO
In 2024, circCO’s business has developed strongly and achieved very positive results in business operations thanks to its focus on providing flexible workspace solutions with seven branches located in the most prime locations in the central areas of Ho Chi Minh City and Danang. The occupancy rate of CircCO’s office spaces for rent and coworking spaces is maintained at over 85 per cent, with some locations continuously reaching 99 per cent. Currently, customer preferences for the coworking space segment and the office rental market in general are undergoing clear and very interesting changes. One of the important factors that customers look for is flexibility in choosing workspace, including the ability to flexibly adjust according to needs, freely choosing location in addition to competitive rental prices and flexible payment mode. This helps businesses, especially freelancer teams, startups and small and medium-sized companies, easily optimise costs and meet the needs of flexible changes in work. In addition, customers are also increasingly paying attention to work support amenities such as high-speed internet connection, relaxation space, reception area, and full office services. More importantly, tenants want coworking space to be not only a place to work but also a place to build relationships, expand networks, and learn from other businesses and experts. Therefore, networking events, workshops, or community activities are factors that engage potential customers. Finally, a beautiful, comfortable and creative working environment will help improve customers’ productivity and working spirit. In 2025, the development opportunities of the coworking space segment remains potential, especially when the flexible working trend becoming more popular and businesses are encouraging employees to work at the office. Companies, organisations and individuals are increasingly aware of the benefits that the co-working model brings, from optimising operating costs to the ability to create a creative and connected working environment. Another trend is the increase in additional services such as creative spaces, community networking events, or training and skills development initiatives. In addition, in 2025, factors such as advanced technologies, smart utilities and sustainability standards in space design will also be important factors contributing to market direction. The suppliers will actively develop and provide working spaces that are not only fully equipped but also environmentally friendly and equipped with modern technologies to help improve work efficiency to meet the increasing demand from customers and creating a certain competitive advantage. Duong Do, founder and CEO, Toong
In 2024, Toong opened a new location and expanded another location also in Ho Chi Minh City to bring 13 locations nationwide and one in Vientiane. In April, we expect to open a new location at The Global City, the new hub of Ho Chi Minh City and expand to double another location in District 1. Our average occupancy rate last year was high, around 80 per cent. However, Ho Chi Minh has a much higher average occupancy rate than Hanoi. Most companies that use our services are foreign-invested or dynamic businesses in fields with high creative content. Unlike three years ago, the rate of customers terminating contracts prematurely in our system in 2024 was much less. In previous years, due to economic downturn, businesses and projects were paused and this also affected the business situation of coworking space. One thing I see differently to the previous time is that tenants increasingly place more emphasis on aesthetics and culture in the community than on facilities. Coworking providers that focus on investing in facilities without cultivating community culture have also been quickly purged. The coworking space market in 2024 was not much active and there were not many new arrivals, while some coworking space chains have stopped developing and expanding. The coworking space is not an easy field to succeed in. But if coworking space is considered an essential solution, meeting the need for a work space that is both cost-effective and capable of taking care of the spiritual life of workers, then coworking space is an ideal solution, and it has much room to develop. Toong was born out of the philosophy that a work environment should, first and foremost, nurture the transformation of every individual, which will be a tremendous momentum to their businesses. Since the establishment, Toong has exponentially expanded across Indochina, with each location uniquely crafted to melt into its landscape and take roots in local culture. However, more than a physical space where businesses happen, Toong has evolved into a work environment that boldly changes not only the way people work but also the way people push back frontiers by interweaving architecture, culture, art, ecology, technology, and community. |
