As the return of workers to the office creeps along, shared office space company Industrious is teaming up with apartment REIT AvalonBay to open two new coworking locations in Southern California apartment complexes.

The new workspaces will occupy ground floors of AvalonBay’s Monrovia and Brea complexes, according to an announcement from Industrious. The offices, called Second Space powered by Industrious, will have a smaller format and offer private office space for residents and Industrious customers.

“The evolution of work is showing that most workers don't want to commute daily to office spaces, but don’t want to work from home every day either,” Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari said in a statement. “Solutions like the one offered through this first-of-its-kind partnership with AvalonBay fills that gap — meeting employees where they want to be and empowering the individual with a choice they didn’t have before.”

The latest Kastle Systems occupancy barometer found that LA-area occupancy last week was just about 45% of what it was pre-pandemic.

The pandemic threw a wrench in the progress of many companies that offered coworking and shared office spaces. Between mid-2020 and January of this year, 144 flex office companies have given up 12.2M SF, The Real Deal reported.

Industrious has swooped in on several occasions to snap up some of the spaces left behind from that pullback. Its efforts were no doubt bolstered by the $200M investment it received from CBRE, which bought a 35% stake in the company in early 2021.