Hot Desks and High Ambitions: Inside the Sunshine Coast's Coworking Surge

Occupancy rates at coworking venues across the Sunshine Coast hit 87 percent in June, the highest recorded figure since the post-pandemic rebound began, according to figures released this week by the Sunshine Coast Council's economic development office. The numbers confirm what anyone who has tried to book a hot desk at short notice already knows: space is tight, and demand is not slowing down.

The timing matters. Globally, the conversation around remote work has shifted from whether it works to how to make it pay. Major tech employers are pulling staff back to headquarters, but a growing cohort of developers, designers and founders, many of them relocating from Brisbane and Sydney, are betting their careers on staying regional. The Sunshine Coast, with its fibre-connected business parks and a cost-of-living gap that still yawns wide compared to southeast Queensland's capital, is absorbing a disproportionate share of that movement.

Where the Desks Are Filling Up

Nowhere is that pressure more visible than in Maroochydore's new CBD precinct around First Avenue, where Fishermen's Road Innovation Hub has expanded its floor space twice in 18 months. The hub now hosts 340 members across its hot-desk, dedicated-desk and private-office tiers, up from 210 at the start of 2025. Monthly dedicated desks there run $480, a figure that looks steep against the old regional average but remains roughly 40 percent cheaper than comparable CBD Brisbane addresses.

Further south, Caloundra's Bulcock Street strip has quietly developed its own cluster. StartUp Sunshine Coast, the not-for-profit founded in 2019, moved its flagship programming to a refurbished heritage building on Bulcock Street in March 2026, folding in mentoring sessions, a weekly demo afternoon and what it calls a Resident Founders program that currently supports 22 early-stage companies. Industries represented range from agri-tech and marine sensors to, increasingly, cybersecurity, a sector that has picked up local interest partly because of high-profile international cases involving surveillance tools being turned on the very politicians meant to oversee them.

The Sunshine Coast Digital Hub at Mooloolaba, operated through a partnership between TAFE Queensland and the council, recorded 1,200 unique visitors through its doors in the June quarter. That figure includes both paying members and participants in free short courses, but coordinators there say the ratio of people converting from course attendees to paying members has climbed to roughly one in four, a sign that people are finding reasons to stay, not just drop in.

What the Data Says About Who Is Working Here

A survey of 560 knowledge workers on the Sunshine Coast conducted by regional research firm Locale Insight in May 2026 found that 61 percent were either fully remote or hybrid, working outside a traditional employer's office for at least three days a week. Of those, 38 percent said they had deliberately chosen the Sunshine Coast over a capital city for lifestyle reasons, but 54 percent of that same group listed reliable gigabit internet as a non-negotiable condition of staying. The Sunshine Coast Council's $35 million fibre rollout, which reached Birtinya and Kawana Waters earlier this year, has removed a barrier that once kept some technical roles tied to the city.

Peripheral hardware and productivity gadgets are also finding buyers here. Tech retailers along Sunshine Plaza in Maroochydore report that compact peripheral devices, the kind designed specifically for video calls and hybrid meeting management, have become consistent sellers in 2026, reflecting a workforce kitting out home offices and shared spaces with professional-grade tools rather than consumer stopgaps.

For founders and remote workers scoping the market now, the practical advice from operators is simple: move fast on membership waitlists, particularly at Fishermen's Road and the Digital Hub, where July intake is already constrained. The council's economic development team has confirmed a third coworking precinct is under feasibility review for the Nambour town centre, with a decision expected before the end of the third quarter. If approved, it would add roughly 200 desks to the region's stock, but construction timelines mean relief is still 12 to 18 months away. Book what you can find now.