Construction cranes spike the Brisbane skyline and large chunks of the CBD are being rebuilt as the city prepares to host the 2032 Olympic Games and WOTSO celebrates its 10th year in the Queensland capital.
So much has changed in Brisbane since WOTSO Fortitude Valley opened on inner-city Brunswick Street in August, 2016.
Most significantly the population has increased over the past decade from an estimated 2.2 million people to 2.8 million residents according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
A key catalyst was the mid-2021 announcement that Brisbane would host the 2032 Olympic Games which, in a serendipitous piece of timing, coincided with the robust post-COVID rebound across southeast Queensland fuelled by strong interstate migration.
This was quickly followed by unprecedented government and private investment in sporting, transport and housing infrastructure, attracting even more people looking for work and a fresh future. The only Australian city to rival Brisbane’s growth is Perth.
WOTSO’s regional manager Amber Row started with the business in 2021 and says the change over the past five years has been phenomenal.
“There’s so much happening in southeast Queensland, the dynamic has really changed, you can feel that there are more people and it’s become much busier, particularly on the roads,” says Row.
WOTSO now operates six coworking spaces in the region, one of the strongest networks across its 44 flexible workspaces in Australia and New Zealand.
They are Fortitude Valley and Chermside in Brisbane, Varsity Lakes and Robina on the Gold Coast, Sippy Downs on the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba, west of Brisbane.
Sustained regional population growth is forecast with the proportion of people aged under 35 moving to the region doubling since 2019, according to analysis by KPMG Urban Economist Terry Rawnsley.
“These demographic changes highlight southeast Queensland’s growing appeal to younger Aussies thanks to the fantastic opportunity for education, employment and high-quality urban living,” Rawnsley says.
Row from WOTSO says population growth creates further coworking opportunities. As the region expands, and the commute chews up more time, she believes more people will look for a place they can work local, grow their network and be part of a community.
“The future looks really bright, we are seeing strong demand and opportunity throughout the region and expect it to continue long-term,” Row says.
She says WOTSO is bullish on Queensland’s coastal cities and plans to open a new coworking space in Bundaberg, 370 kilometres north of Brisbane, by the end of this year.
