DURHAM – Durham and Charlotte are among the best cities in North America to be a freelancer, according to a new analysis from Tool Tester.
And Raleigh finished ranked in the top 20 cities as well, coming in ranked 19th out of the 109 cities analyzed in the study.
Durham beat out Charlotte and Raleigh as the best city for freelancing, in part because it is the 10th most affordable city to work from a coworking space, according to a spokesperson for the company that released the analysis earlier this month.
But where are freelancers working from, and will the region remain affordable as demand for space remains high?
“Durham and Raleigh are great places for freelancing,” said Maari Casey, the founder and CEO of Durham-based Uncompany. “The creative and professional community thrives here because I think a lot of professionals move here, work full-time, love the city, climate, location, cost of living and community and want to stay even if maybe they’ve outgrown their job.”
Casey launched Uncompany 11 years ago. The firm provides a “system that makes freelance frictionless,” according to its website, and does that through aligning teams or individual freelancers with clients seeking to add freelance projects across a broad swath of projects and project types.
Freelance doesn’t mean work from home
“There aren’t many places in the country you can live in, start a business in, and still afford to live, and enjoy without taking out massive debt or making exceptions,” said Casey. “Our area compared to a lot of places is still affordable and paired with a supportive community who wants to see small businesses and freelancers succeed, you have a thriving freelance scene.”
Part of the analysis included measuring the cost of office space, or the cost and availability of coworking desks. That’s because while people may be working remotely, they aren’t necessarily working from home, or at least not exclusively.
“Hybrid work now means much more than just the home and office,” says Flore Pradère, Work Dynamics Research Director at JLL in a workforce study published earlier this week. “A variety of locations form part of the typical working week as employees seek boundaries between personal and professional lives.”
That includes freelancers, who aren’t just working from desks at their homes, noted Casey. They’re also working from coworking spaces, shared offices, and other gathering places in the Triangle that provide an option to conduct meaningful work while building community.
“Freelancing can be isolating and that was before COVID-19,” said Casey.
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Coworking still expanding in the Triangle
But coworking in the Triangle continues to grow, despite the changing workplace patterns that emerged during the prior two and a half years. WRAL TechWire recently updated the WRAL TechWire Startup Guide including new additions for coworking, as an example.
Other expansions have occurred recently, as well. The Loading Dock added a facility in Wake Forest and another in Raleigh. Carolina Coworking opened in 2020, and others did as well. The Durham Bottling Company opened in 2021. Established coworking provider American Underground (which is owned by Capitol Broadcasting, the parent company for WRAL TechWire) celebrated 10 years of operations in 2021.
“It’s important to start talking about this from a talent perspective and an economic development perspective,” said Nick Jordan, the founder and CEO of Durham’s SmashingBoxes and the founder of Durham Bottling Company, in a recent interview with WRAL TechWire.
That’s in part because all across the Triangle, there’s an increasing demand for space. And in Durham, Google continues to hire for its engineering hub. GlaxoSmithKline moved its workplace from its Research Triangle Park campus to downtown Durham recently. And Meta is reportedly considering Durham for a “significant presence”, as well.
But even with demand for office space in “Class A” areas high and increasing, there’s still demand for flexible space and for coworking.
Triangle office space vacancies increase – but so do rents, report finds
There’s opportunity, and concerns
A 2020 study from commercial real estate provider JLL found that while about 5% of the commercial real estate market is occupied as coworking facilities, up to 30% of the market may be operated under coworking models by 2030. A spokesperson for JLL told WRAL TechWire this week that their forecast has not changed—in fact, it’s not just coworking operators that are interested in flexible work space or collaborative space.
According to a spokesperson for JLL, 60% of corporate clients plan on having flexible space as a component of their portfolio moving forward.
“When done correctly, flexible space meets tenant needs and can drive asset value,” the spokesperson told WRAL TechWire. And what workers want may now be what companies need, as the labor market for talent remains highly competitive.
Still, JLL found that demand for flex space increased at an average annual rate of 23% per year between 2010 and 2017, claiming nearly 30% of all U.S. market absorption in a two-year period studied by the firm.
“Just like we used to advertise cool companies as reasons others should come here, or like having good universities as a good platform or infrastructure,” said Jordan, “I think solid flex space options, and operators … could be good carrots to dangle out there for people looking to stay located here but work for someone out of market, for people looking to relocate here, or companies who want to spin up small pods outside of their headquarters.”
Of course, said Jordan, coworking and access to affordable office space is important to other workers, as well, including startup companies and freelancers who are operating small businesses or small teams or sole proprietorships.
“One of the concerns from freelancers is connecting to community for networking, and collaboration,” said Casey. “Coworking communities create that plus they all have different types of value adds that are more than a desk.”
More coworking spaces join Triangle Startup Guide’s growing lineup – here’s a look at each
