Designing for flexibility: the new Real Estate mindset with Mateo Miranda, Head of Global Real Estate at Block

In the latest episode of the Desana Podcast, our CEO and Co-Founder Michael Cockburn sat down with Mateo Miranda, Head of Global Real Estate at Desana customer Block. 

In this episode Mateo walks us through how he's reshaped real estate into a dynamic tool for driving business growth; supporting distributed teams, driving expansion into new markets, and using data to guide every decision.

We dive into their rising use of On Demand space, new landlord models, and how to build a portfolio that flexes with the future of work - all while keeping a sharp eye on cost. Read on for a snapshot of the key takeaways, or to listen in to the full episode.

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Listen to the full episode

If you're rethinking your workplace strategy or wondering how On Demand is playing out at scale, this one's for you.

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Real Estate as a strategic lever

While previously a tactical function - ensuring people had places to work - Real Estate has evolved into something far more powerful: a strategic tool to drive workforce engagement, business expansion, and smarter decision-making.

Traditionally reactive and relatively inflexible, changes in employee behavior and the emergence of workplace innovation has enabled this transformation into a strategic capability that supports not just the workforce, but business growth in emerging markets.

“We’re starting to think about how this not only supports our workforce, but our business strategy.”

This multi-phase approach starts with supporting distributed teams (whether in-person collaboration, team events, or independent work), and scales toward enabling market expansion. Real estate is no longer just about space, it's about opportunity creation.

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Cost-conscious, data-led decisions

Matteo brings a finance-first mindset to everything, and it shows. Cost efficiency and data clarity are at the heart of his approach.

Dedicated coworking passes felt inefficient, as employees might not use them every day, and the cost didn’t flex. This is what brought Block to testing on-demand space with Desana, as a more elastic, cost-effective, and measurable function. Crucially, the data gained through Desana is what drives decision making across their real estate portfolio:

“If a team uses conference rooms 5x a week, we know we need more of those instead of desks.”

By tracking how employees actually use space, the team is making smarter design and portfolio decisions - and bringing the CFO along for the ride through accurate, real life data on utilization and spend.

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Building in On-Demand workplace

When Block first explored on-demand workspaces, it was as a test case in select markets. Now? It’s become central to their real estate strategy.

Desana On Demand is being used to:

• Support distributed workers
• Handle overflow from permanent space
• Test new markets before committing

“We might take on space that accommodates routine usage and events, and then layer in Desana when that space overflows.”

As employee behavior evolves, the team is building an agile model that adapts - with on-demand as a permanent layer.

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Looking ahead: new models & what’s next

Recent years have brought a huge shift in workplace requirements and strategy. This has involved experimentation and the testing of new approaches to see what works, with the result being a more nuanced, dynamic approach to workplace strategy. 

Some of the key developments that Mateo discussed include:

• Real-time usage data is shaping space design
• Landlords are open to new, flexible models
• New formats—like longer-term on-demand space - are in early beta and show real promise
  
  

“The importance of being able to evidence your decisions- everyone’s leaning into that.”

This isn’t just about where people work. It’s about making space work harder - for people, for teams, and for the business.

Across the episode there’s a lot more invaluable insight from Mateo - including insights on how the team is thinking about hybrid work, the return to office (or not), and building an adaptable real estate model from scratch. If you’re navigating similar shifts in your own workplace strategy, this is an episode worth a listen.

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To find more episodes from The Desana Podcast, head to our host page.