Project Cowork took over 19,000 square feet at 200 Main Plaza, a historic building along the River Walk last year.
Stream Realty Partners
San Antonio’s coworking market continues to grow as companies adjust to a hybrid work model.
From 2025 to 2026, the percentage of coworking spaces within the city’s total office inventory grew from 1.3% to 1.9%, according to a recent report from data firm Yardi. San Antonio ranked No. 3 among major metros with the highest coworking penetration growth.
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“(Coworking) is spreading to a wider range of metros, and San Antonio has seen quite a significant coworking penetration,” said Sanziana Bona, a content marketing specialist for Yardi, but it’s still “behind some of the faster-growing markets or larger, more mature office markets.”
“There’s more room for flexible space to grow compared to other cities, which is why it’s seeing an uptick now,” she added.
MORE COWORKING NEWS: San Antonio couple combining coworking with child care for working families
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San Antonio trailed behind the Southwest Florida Coast and Jacksonville, Fla. Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 7 on the list, with its coworking inventory growing from 1.8% to 2.3% of the office market. It’s also listed as the third-largest coworking market in the nation with 329 locations.
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Nationally, coworking space increased by 15%, adding 1,197 locations totaling 22.5 million square feet between January 2025 and January 2026. Roughly 1 in every 45 square feet of U.S. office space is now coworking.
The trend is expanding beyond major coastal metros into secondary markets, with companies offering flexible opportunities for employees even amid return-to-office mandates.
“The demand has shifted beyond remote and contract workers, and the industry is being driven by hybrid work strategies, with companies prioritizing flexibility and a need for shorter leases,” Bona said.
Coworking members share space at Common Desk in April 2024 in San Antonio. The WeWork brand opened a location downtown two years ago.
San Antonio Express-News file photo
Embracing coworking
Coworking boomed throughout the 2010s, when chains like WeWork rapidly expanded throughout the U.S., becoming pioneers for the shared office space model. But it saw a sharp decline during the pandemic when workers retreated to their homes. The pullback took its toll. WeWork, in particular, had a failed IPO in 2019 and subsequently filed for bankruptcy in 2023.
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READ MORE: Project Cowork moving into historic San Antonio building along River Walk
The industry rebounded in the post-pandemic environment as shared office space emerged as a more affordable option for companies looking to downsize or to give remote workers across the country a dedicated space. Now, it’s growing with intention, rather than speed, and investing in both large and emerging markets, where there’s an established demand for flexible space.
Several coworking spaces also are offering a day care solution for working parents who want their children nearby.
“Coworking is now one of the core options for how office space is planned, used and scaled,” Bona said. “It’s no longer just an alternative.”
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Amazon, which issued a return-to-office mandate last year, signed three leases with WeWork in New York. Lyft, JPMorgan and Pfizer also are taking advantage of the flexibility coworking offers.
“Corporations are embracing this trend, and for them it makes sense,” Bona said. “Being such huge companies with employees all over the nation, it’s a great way to allow their employees to have that work-life balance, which is what coworking provides. You don’t have to relocate for work anymore; you can work from anywhere, and coworking spaces are supporting this new lifestyle.”
RELATED: Coworking giant IWG expands in Texas with seven locations, including two in San Antonio
Nationally, brands such as Regus, HQ, Vast Coworking Group, Industrious and WeWork are major leaders in the coworking market.
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Coworking giant IWG PLC opened two locations of its Regus brand in San Antonio in 2024.
IWG plc
Between 2020 and 2023, 268,000 square feet of coworking space opened in San Antonio, representing roughly half of the market’s inventory, according to CoStar. Openings have slowed down in recent years but remain higher than pre-pandemic numbers.
Disrupting traditional office space
But as companies have embraced coworking and reduced their office footprint or moved to new, high-end buildings, it’s shaken up the real estate market for that sector.
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In 2025, 85.5 million square feet of office space came up for renewal or vacancy, according to analytics firm Trepp. Vacancy rates hovered around record highs between 19% and 20%, while construction dropped to record lows to help balance out supply and demand.
It’s also led to a plunge in the values for older buildings in less desirable locations — such as the urban core. A side effect is that lower acquisition costs have made converting existing office space into hotels and apartments more financially feasible. And demand for housing and hotel rooms is stronger.
In San Antonio, a handful of conversions are in the works. Tower Life Building is being refashioned into apartments. Part of International Bank of Commerce’s office complex on Houston Street is expected to become a hotel. Developer Weston Urban recently turned the former Continental Hotel offices into apartments. At the South Texas Medical Center, a mostly vacant office building is set to become apartments.