Ile-de-France lacks third places

It is a corollary of the transformation of the economy. With the strong entrepreneurship development and self-employment For ten years, the big cities have seen the emergence of third places. Incubators but also business incubators and coworking spaces, these shared premises – which can also house sports or performance halls, catering facilities, production sites, etc. – are multiplying to meet the new needs of workers. And Île-de-France, France’s leading region, is no exception. But according to the Paris Île-de-France CCI, which manages several of these new types of activity spaces, their development should be faster.

Because despite a boom deemed “spectacular” by the Chamber of Commerce – the number of third places has in fact multiplied by more than 7 in a decade to now exceed a thousand spaces available -, the Island of -France is lagging behind, compared to other major European cities. Third locations represent 2% of office space in the Ile-de-France region, compared to 3% in Brussels, 4% in Amsterdam and 6% in London.

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And, for the CCI Paris Île-de-France, the reasons for this delay are simple: these shared workspaces would develop more quickly and would be more sustainable if they better met the needs of companies.

Lack of compatibility with industrial start-ups

In a recent report, the public establishment recommends several avenues. If coworking spaces have been the main vector for the development of third places (their number has jumped by 140% over the past four years), the health crisis has made these places incompatible with the implementation of distancing rules to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

The gradual lifting of activity and travel restrictions has certainly enabled the majority of these shared workspaces to restart their operation, the rise of teleworking, which is supported by the Paris Île-de-France CCI, is now an opportunity for the development of third places but also for companies wishing to optimize the management of their premises.

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The current model of multiplication of third places is also incompatible with the growth of industrial start-ups, which are numerous in the area. Île-de-France, moreover, is not left out since the capital region concentrates 38% of French business creations. However, if the young French shoots are mainly accompanied during their launch and industrialization phase, they are much less so during their pre-industrialization period, when the pooling of premises and production tools would be very useful to them. and could reduce their costs.

Intrinsic constraints

A path of development that third places should neglect all the less as Bpifrance, the public investment bank, plans to inject 2.3 billion euros for start-ups and industrial SMEs as part of the France 2030 plan.

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Last brake, shared workspaces finally suffer from intrinsic constraints directly related to their economic model. While companies interested in a third location need flexibility and are reluctant to commit to the long term, the spaces are subject, with the owner of the premises they operate, to the classic rules of leases at 3, 6 or 9 years. And so in the end sometimes have to pay rent even if the premises are unoccupied. The Paris Île-de-France CCI therefore recommends better support for the creators of third places, in particular in the choice of their location but also in the implementation of their pricing policy which, being difficult to read, may put off some professional customers.