Bethany Babcock regularly took her children to school during the summer months when they were off from school. Lifetime gym where does he work?
After dropping them off at Life Time’s child care, where they played and exercised, Babcock went to the coffee shop with her laptop to work for a few hours. Babcock, a principal and co-owner of Foresite Commercial Real Estate, rents office space for his firm, but said the combination of childcare, Life Time’s other amenities and the opportunity to take a break from his usual digs make working there appealing. .
“I looked around and there were a lot of other parents doing the same thing,” Babcock said.
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Babcock’s Life Time location on US 281 recently added a designated co-working space with desks, desks and outlets, called a “work club lounge,” that’s part of the membership. He plans to use the company’s model as a customer and as a real estate professional.
Billing itself as a “luxury athletic golf club,” Life Time features fitness classes, pools, children’s activities, dining options, a spa and a variety of gym equipment. To be successful, coworking operators must offer a better experience than what customers have at home or in the office, Babcock said.
“They are taking advantage of the amenities that are already attached to them,” Babcock said of the company.
At the Life Time location in The Rim mall, which has a similar co-working space, Cory Culp put on his headphones and joined a virtual meeting on his iPad last Monday. Culp said he was visiting his wife in San Antonio from California, and having access to the space at Life Time made it easier to work while traveling.
“It’s pretty quiet,” Culp said of the work area.
Chanhassen, Minn. based Life Time, “Lifetime Work” segment was in 2017, well before the COVID-19 pandemic caused more workers to switch to remote or hybrid work options. Adding dedicated coworking spaces was a way to expand their offerings, respond to what members were looking for, and keep them in their locations longer.
“It was really the impetus to see our members working in our clubs,” said James O’Reilly, vice president of Life Time Work. “We noticed more and more laptops in our lobbies and cafes.”
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Larger coworking spaces at Life Time clubs range from 30,000 to 50,000 square feet, and members pay extra for private desks or private offices and conference rooms. The company has 14 such locations and is adding more. Life Time’s website states that prices, which vary depending on location and options, can range from approximately $500 to $1,600 per month, plus membership costs.
Smaller “work club lounge” spaces, like Life Time’s two San Antonio locations, typically range from 1,500 to 3,000 square feet. There is no dedicated desk or office, and access is included in clients’ memberships.
At The Rim location, members use the coworking space to hold meetings, sign documents and grab coffee or lunch with business partners, general manager Tina Toquica said. People who travel use it to keep track of their work, and students sometimes use it for homework, she said.
“It’s always busy no matter what time it is,” Toquica said. “People want the third row” to complete one’s home and workplace.
The pandemic has changed the shape of many people’s typical workday, O’Reilly said.
For example, someone might come to the Life Time club for a drink, spend a few hours answering emails, take a break for a yoga class, spend a few more hours studying, and take another break to lift weights before heading home. They and their families worked a few more hours, O’Reilly said. They do not have to sit in traffic and commute for hours to get from their homes to their offices and gyms.
“Today’s components have changed,” O’Reilly said. “There is more fluidity.”
In the wake of the pandemic, more traditional coworking spaces have sprouted up in the San Antonio area trying to capitalize on these changes, and operators have looked for ways to differentiate themselves.
Aamil Sarfani, a local real estate broker and developer, opened a co-working space last year and another this year. Project Collaboration.
He said he sees it as a way to take aging office buildings and reposition them for companies that want to start with flexible lease terms and don’t want to spend money on construction.
Instead of shared spaces and hot desks, Project Cowork’s locations near San Antonio International Airport and in Castle Hills consist of private office suites for 1 to 40 people along with conference and training rooms; These features make Sarfani’s operation different from others, he said. rivals.
Project Cowork’s tenants include corporate teams from large companies, lawyers and a psychiatrist. Private areas; access to conference, training and presentation rooms of various sizes; Sarfani said they were attracted to having a community manager and an event coordinator at the front desk because they were in a professional position to bring in clients and didn’t have to pay a receptionist. Project Cowork is adding a portal to make it easier to book rooms.
“There is definitely a demand for this type of space,” Sarfani said.
It is also difficult to convince people who can work from home to rent an office.
“The question is: How many people are willing to pay for this? That’s what we’re figuring out right now,” Sarfani said.
