Dallas-Fort Worth maintained its national second-place ranking for the number of coworking spaces in the fourth quarter even as the total square footage available in the region fell by 1%.

Seven new coworking venues opened in DFW to give the region a total of 286. Los Angeles sits at the top of the national heap, with 292 venues, according to the Q4 Coworking Industry Report compiled by CoworkingCafe, part of property management software company Yardi Systems.

Despite so much available coworking space in the Metroplex, DFW tends to favor smaller spaces. That led to a small drop in inventory to a total of 5.2M SF at the end of the year. The Metroplex also saw a 3% decrease in the average square footage of venues. That fell to a hair over 18K SF.

“There's a lot of entrepreneurs here, so you get a lot of these mom-and-pop [coworking spaces] instead of the national brands,” said Nadim Ahmed, who owns two Venture X locations in DFW. “National brands tend to be bigger spaces, where mom and pop, obviously with the funding barriers, tend to go for the smaller ones.”

DFW surged past Manhattan in Q3, and the Big Apple lost two more venues during Q4. New York City's 273 locations came in at No. 4 in the country, behind D.C.’s 277 locations.

The national median price for open workspaces dropped $1 to $149 per unit in Q4, but it rose nearly 33% in DFW to $199 at the end of the year.

Ahmed chalked up that rise in the Metroplex to population growth and rising demand for open workspaces.

The DFW office market has seen a significant uptick in investor interest, particularly for distressed office properties. Meanwhile, with the number of return-to-office orders from large corporations increasing and the government sending federal employees back to the office full time, Ahmed said there is concern that the coworking market could be adversely impacted.

But he doesn’t expect that to be the case.

“When they return back to office, it's only going to help coworking,” Admed said, noting coworking is about flexibility. “The difference now will be that workspace has become a consumer’s market. In the past, it was the employers who were picking, but now it's employees who are going to pick.”

Yardi Matrix Manager of Business Intelligence Doug Ressler also said the return of traditional office doesn’t necessarily spell trouble for the coworking sector. It could boost competition, he said.

“Many companies are seeking flexible office solutions that can adapt to changing workforce needs and economic conditions,” Ressler said in an email. “The shift towards remote and hybrid work has led companies to reevaluate their real estate needs. Coworking spaces provide a flexible and cost-effective solution for businesses that don’t require a permanent office.”

The coworking sector has seen its share of upheaval over the past 12 months.

Dallas-based CBRE announced it would purchase coworking firm Industrious in January 2024. CBRE had a roughly 40% equity interest in Industrious along with a $100M convertible note at the time, paying around $400M to acquire the outstanding equity in the firm.

Yardi Systems became the majority owner of WeWork when the coworking titan emerged from bankruptcy in the spring of last year.