Traditional landlords, grappling with the mushrooming presence of flexible office providers, are now trying out new ways to maintain their footing in the world of office leasing.

Flexible office providers have been on a leasing tear this year. Last quarter, WeWork added 500K SF in Manhattan, surpassing JPMorgan Chase as the biggest private office tenant in the borough, while Spaces leased around 300K SF, taking several big blocks of space off the market, according to Savills Studley.

Knotel, which just raised $60M in a funding round, announced five new locations in Q3. In August alone, a third of all deals inked in Manhattan were for coworking providers. The rapid rise is forcing traditional landlords and developers, which have held the reins in the city’s office leasing environment for decades, to adapt, and fast.

Some are fighting back by creating their own coworking offerings within their businesses. Others are taking the "if you can’t beat them, join them" approach, choosing to form partnerships with providers. The industry is experimenting, sources said, with landlords and developers trying to work out the best way to stay relevant.