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Real estate, technology fuel growth of executive suites

Orlando Business Journal.. by Staff Writer

CENTRAL FLORIDA -- Executive suites. Sounds like a name for a hotel, doesn't it? Well, think again. Executive suites have an industry of their own, and it's booming.

"The industry is hot right now," says Richard Meyers, executive director of Alliance Business Centers Network. "There are many current trends that are favorable to the industry right now."

In the Central Florida area alone, there are approximately 25 executive suite companies operating in more than 30 locations.

Although the industry was launched in the late 1960s, it was not until the 1990S that it really gained speed. According to Janine Windbigler, executive director of the Executive Suites Association (ESA), the industry has been fueled by two main sources: real estate and technology.
She explains: "The climate of the industry is very much related to the real estate industry, and right now everything is in high demand. Another reason is technology. People can be anywhere, work anywhere, because of technology."

With the current expansion of the real estate and high-tech markets, the executive suite industry is bursting at the seams. According to ESA, the industry as a whole has grown to include more than 4,000 office business centers in North America and 5,500 worldwide.

Since ESA was founded in 1986, it has acquired more than 950 member locations and 35 associate members, vendors and suppliers in 48 countries. Alliance Business Centers Network has 80 member companies and 340 locations worldwide.

Meyers notes that one of the most obvious indicators of the advancement of the industry is the billion-dollar merger between HQ Global Workplaces and V ANT AS, two of the largest executive suites providers in the world. When the merger is complete, HQ Global Workplaces will have more than 450 locations all over the world, with four in Central Florida.

Also known as office business centers, this multibillion-dollar industry consists of corporate entities and independent contractors who specialize in shared office services and workplace solutions. These "alternative offices" include four elements: office space, business services, amenities and managed technology.

The recipe for executive suites is relatively simple. It begins with a service provider leasing one or more floors in an office building. Next, the service provider subdivides the floor into private offices and suites of offices. Then, the provider furnishes and equips the offices for professional use. Finally, the space is leased to businesses for an inclusive monthly fee based on their individual
corporate demands, and clients are billed according to what services they use. .

But, why would a business want to utilize an executive suite?

Catherine Price, president of Execu Suites Inc., located at the corner of North Orange Avenue and Wall Street in the old courthouse building, says: "What (executive suites) offer is the flexibility that businesses will need in the future. Everything is so fluid anymore. This allows companies to contract and expand as necessary."

Further, Price also listed the convenience of paying one monthly fee for all business operations, the fact that an office can be up and running within 24 to 48 hours of signing a lease, the flexibility of lease terms and the low initial overhead costs as perks.

Price's business includes three floors of private offices and suites of offices. On the verge of celebrating its two-year anniversary, all 65 of Execu Suites' units, a total of 20,000 square feet, are occupied.

In the industry's infant stages, the major executive suite clientele were entrepreneurs, small business start-ups and small corporations, but today, many leasing space in business centers are large corporations who want to expand their physical presence or who want to test other markets before entering them.

Some of these businesses even take advantage of part-time services called corporate identity programs, in which a business is allowed access to office space and conference rooms for a specified number of hours per month. These programs may include providing a business address, telephone answering and mail handling.

Other businesses benefiting from the use of executive suites include high-tech and dot-com companies; sole practitioners, such as lawyers, therapists and financial planners; staffing agencies; mortgage companies; stock brokers; and corporations who are downsizing.

"The market is growing like crazy. With the advent of e-commerce everything is being done online. Technology is the wave of the future. As a businessperson, you have to be with the wave or ahead of the wave," Price says.