CBRE's move should come as little surprise after the agency declared co-working had become the realm of large corporate tenants in a report last November – a week after announcing its own entry into the sector. The report said there was an unmet need of premium employers for flexible space in high-profile buildings close to other companies they did business with. But it marks a disruption from the traditional role of a real estate agent. Instead of brokering space between a landlord, it is now in the game of selling space itself. Traditional landlords have already started disrupting their traditional offering – GPT has its own co-working brand Spaces & Co and Dexus offers flexible meeting and conference facilities with Dexus Place – and Mr Kupiec said CBRE's move was a logical expansion of its own services. "We take a partnership approach with the building owner," he said. "Hana’s premium offering provides Class-A, portfolio owners with a trusted, flexible partner able to deliver a solution that adds value to their asset." The move is part of the disruption taking place across the property industry globally, as technology creates new opportunities – and forces established players to come up with new revenue opportunities to offset traditional service lines that may in turn be challenged. It isn't the only expansion CBRE is making. In July, the company said its development arm, Texas-based Trammell Crow Company, intended to purchase London-listed home builder Telford Homes for £267 million ($484 million) to expand into the UK's growing build-to-rent market. The Hana offering has three arms – Hana Team, which provides private office suites for large corporate users, Hana Meet, which offers conference room and event spaces that can be rented on an hourly, daily or weekly basis and Hana Share, a traditional co-working space.
CBRE’s co-working business has plans to expand into Asia-Pacific, according to Hana CEO Andrew Kupiec. The commercial real estate services and investment firm, which announced its entry in the sector last November, has opened two locations in the US, and last week revealed details of its first three sites in the UK. The shift from the firm's traditional role of brokering deals between landlords and tenants comes as established players seek new revenue opportunities, to replace revenues lost to disruption of traditional services. Hana has three brands: Hana Team, which provides private office suites for enterprise clients, Hana Meet, which rents conference room and event space, and Hana Share, which provides co-working spaces.