For nearly twenty years, Karen Condi has advised owners and operators on converting vacant office space into functioning coworking businesses through her firm, Workspace Strategies, founded in Lexington, Kentucky in 2006. As principal, Karen Condi has overseen hundreds of projects across North America that span new construction, management takeovers, and turnarounds, drawing on experience in workspace design, floorplan programming, build-out oversight, and financial planning. She has built her reputation through affiliations with organizations including the Global Coworking Unconference, the Global Workspace Association, and the Alliance Business Center Network. A graduate of Eastern Kentucky University with a degree in business, Karen Condi brings a relationship-driven, operations-first approach to every project she leads. That perspective shapes how she evaluates what actually turns an empty office into a working coworking space.
What Turns an Empty Office Into a Coworking Space
An empty office does not become a coworking space when a landlord adds desks and internet. The owner or operator has to turn a vacancy into a place that people can reserve, enter, pay for, bring guests to, and use without confusion. This work starts with an operating plan, not a furniture order.
A coworking space gives individuals and companies access to desks, private offices, meeting rooms, and shared services on flexible terms. Flexible terms can include day access, monthly memberships, reservable rooms, or short private-office agreements. Build-out means the physical work that prepares the location, such as walls, wiring, furniture, signage, and shared areas.
Demand should guide the first design decisions. The United States had more than 9,100 active coworking locations by early 2026, with growth beyond the largest office markets. That spread makes local demand important. Solo workers, small teams, day users, and meeting-room users affect room mix, access patterns, pricing, and daily service coverage.
A building also has to match the intended business use. Members need clear entrances, public transportation or parking access, dependable utilities, and nearby food options and basic business services. The owner must check zoning, licenses, permits, and local restrictions before treating the office as ready for a new business use.
Layout planning has to balance income and square footage. Private offices can support longer commitments, while open seats can serve part-time users and day visitors. Meeting rooms, phone booths, corridors, storage, and shared areas all take space that could otherwise hold paying members, so the layout has to protect revenue and movement.
Privacy requires a separate design test. Members need separation for focused work, calls, client meetings, and team discussions. If sound carries too easily or focused work has no protected area, the location may look active while failing to support the work people came to do.
Work infrastructure determines whether members can complete tasks independently. Members expect stable internet, enough outlets, good lighting, comfortable temperatures, meeting screens, printing access, booking tools, and secure entry. A finished-looking suite can still fail if people cannot connect, present, unlock doors, or use reserved rooms smoothly. The tools must work during appointments and daily work.
Member support areas serve a different purpose than work infrastructure. Reception, kitchen space, restrooms, mail handling, package storage, and cleaning routines help people move through the location with fewer delays. The operator also has to plan guest flow because members may invite clients, candidates, vendors, or event attendees into the space.
Before opening day, the operator needs clear responsibilities and enforceable policies. Managers have to handle tours, onboarding, payments, room bookings, access problems, maintenance requests, and member questions. Rules for guests, noise, after-hours access, room-booking conflicts, and meeting room use prevent small issues from becoming daily friction. Staff also need a consistent process for check-ins, host notifications, temporary access, and visitor records.
Cost and pricing complete the conversion test. The owner has to compare build-out, furniture, technology, staffing, marketing, service, and ramp-up costs against memberships, private office income, meeting room bookings, mail plans, printing, and event fees. A full-looking location may still miss its target if prices do not cover the services and operating work behind the membership.
Coworking becomes viable when first visits turn into repeat use and paid commitments. Before opening, the operator should test whether likely users will return, whether staff can handle busy hours, and whether workspace income can cover service costs. A vacant office should not launch as a coworking space until those checks show a business that can keep members, not just attract tours.
About Karen Condi
Karen Condi founded Workspace Strategies in 2006 and serves as its principal, guiding coworking and shared workspace clients throughout North America from her base in Lexington, Kentucky. Her consulting work spans startup launches, build-out oversight, and full-scale management of coworking assets for owners and investors. She has spoken at industry events for the Global Workspace Association, the Alliance Business Center Network, and the Global Coworking Unconference, and holds a business degree from Eastern Kentucky University.