What Office Business Centers Are: Office Business Centers are shared office facilities, which are fully equipped, staffed and furnished. For a monthly fee, customers receive the use of an office (or offices) with necessary services such as telephone answering and office management. They also share common areas, such as reception, kitchen and lavatories, with other clients in the facility. Additional services, e.g., fax, copying, courier, word-processing, technical support, are generally available and are billed as used. These facilities are also known as executive suites or business centers.

How They Are Used: Office Business Centers are used as primary offices by startups and other small businesses and organizations. Larger corporations increasingly use the facilities for sales and field offices. Home based businesses use center’ facilities and conference rooms part-time for satellite offices. All of these basic applications are growing rapidly.

How Many: There are 4,000 facilities in North America, 5,500 worldwide.

How Large: Office Business Centers typically consist of one or two floors in an office building. They range in size from 10,000 to 75,000 square feet. They tend to be somewhat larger in North America than in Europe or elsewhere in the world.

Cost: Depending on location of the center and the location and size of the office in the center, the monthly fee generally ranges from $500 to $2,500.

Who Uses Them: Office Business Centers are often used by entrepreneurs, professionals, small businesses and startups. Larger companies also use the facilities, often in multiple locations, to set up networks of sales and branch offices. They are also used by government agencies, retired individuals and as temporary quarters by organizations of all sorts for projects.

History: Office Business Centers arose spontaneously in a number of places in the late 1960’s and early ’70’s. The industry expanded in the early 1980’s and then plateaued during the real estate recession of the late ’80’s and early ’90’s. During this time, the industry was largely made up of local and regional firms. In the late ’90’s large companies have invested 100’s of millions of dollars and the industry has undergone significant consolidation.