# David Harrell on Manhattan flex, landlords, and why your lease (really) matters

An episode of [This Week In Coworking](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1685012817), 26 Oct 2026, 45 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/e02ed778/podcast/play/128080142/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-9-26%2F434984094-44100-2-117c6f5d6a31e.mp3

If New Yorkers are back in the office, what is flex for? David Harrell is an office leasing broker at Colliers. He started out as a prosecutor and later helped launch WeWork's in-house tenant rep brokerage. He joins Hector Kolonas at his office overlooking Bryant Park to talk about Manhattan's flex market: why flex is a permanent part of it, why a 25-desk team room request below 34th Street turned up just two options, which landlords will and won't do deals with coworking operators, and what an operator needs to bring to get space in New York. Links and show notes at https://twic.co/bigcityflex They also get into why management agreements and revenue shares are a hard sell while the office market is this strong, and why a lease is what investors and buyers are really paying for. David covers which US markets do better for coworking than their size suggests, and the trends he's watching: bigger team rooms, dedicated bench desks, and managed office. Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:51 David's coworking story 6:40 Is flex permanent in Manhattan? 12:01 Not two tiers, many tiers 15:06 Do Class A landlords want flex? 18:24 Second-tier buildings and landlord stigma 20:40 What landlords want from operators 24:01 Coming to Manhattan in 2027 27:09 Leases vs. management agreements 31:50 Why leases make or break M&A 33:39 The best markets beyond Manhattan 37:00 Suburban coworking and the "trailing spouse" 38:32 Trends to watch #coworking #flexoffice #NYCrealestate #CRE

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