From Half-Empty to Nearly Full: How Katy Elite Suites Turned Targeted Google Ads Into a Thriving Community
Our case studies showcase how coworking space operators around the globe use industry-specific Google Ads strategies to fill their locations, generate revenue, and create waitlists for their services.
Meet Mercedes Johnson: The Childcare Director Who Became Katy Elite Suites’ Community Manager
Mercedes Johnson took an unconventional path into coworking. Before becoming Community Manager at Katy Elite Suites in Katy, Texas, she spent her career as a director in childcare, managing the operations of an entire facility along with a staff of 52 employees.
She also managed a building full of children.
When she stepped into coworking, the day-to-day looked very different. Her focus shifted to billing, auditing, filling empty offices, and supporting a community of business-minded members.
The management experience transferred more than she expected, though. Her operations background gave her insight into running the building, and her customer service experience helped her support members.
Launching a New Brand in a Building With 5 Years of Coworking History
The third floor at 25807 Westheimer Parkway has hosted coworking in some form for roughly five years. Before Katy Elite Suites existed, another operator leased the space, and a different one came before that.
Then, the building’s owner decided to take the operation into her own hands.
She created Katy Elite Suites in June 2024 and set out to build something better than what the previous management had delivered.
A handful of members have been in the building since it first opened, and they have watched the transformation firsthand.
The business model centers on private offices, with meeting rooms, a virtual mail platform, and coworking offered on a case-by-case basis.
More recently, the team added part-time office memberships designed for professionals who want a foothold in the space before committing to a full private office.
Katy Elite Suites had all the right pieces in place, but occupancy was in need of a lift.
Dealing with Half-Empty Offices and Leads Katy Elite Suites Couldn’t Use
When Mercedes stepped into her role, the numbers in the business told a challenging story:
More than half of Katy Elite Suites sat vacant.
The meeting rooms were staying busy without producing revenue because members booked them using their included credits, so the calendar looked full while the income stayed flat.
Marketing under the previous operator had been close to nonexistent.
Mercedes, who lives in the area, had never even heard of the coworking brand that occupied the space before Katy Elite Suites took over.
“I knew of the bigger organizations, so I knew coworking existed,” she says. “But I didn’t realize that brand in particular was one.”
To fill the space, the Katy Elite Suites team knew they needed real marketing support.
Through Jamie Russo of Everything Coworking, she connected with Spacefully, and the Google Ads engagement began.
There was one more problem to solve, though:
The leads coming in were the wrong leads entirely.
“When I first got here, we were getting a lot of salons and tattoo artists,” Mercedes explains. “We couldn’t accommodate the individualized plumbing in each office, and the clientele might’ve deterred some of our current long-term residents. Being intentional about what we were looking for is what helped us bridge that gap.”
How Mercedes and Spacefully Rebuilt the Space’s Lead Strategy Around the Right Members
When Katy Elite Suites enlisted our support, Mercedes was eager to share direct input on the strategy and shape it alongside Abdullah Idrees, her point of contact on our team.
“I asked to be a part of the meetings once I started,” she says. “Really utilizing what he’s saying and his guidance, and coming up with things together, has helped.”
Together, the priority was clear:
Katy Elite Suites was not profitable, so the Google Ads budget needed to focus on the highest-value product first: private offices.
We built the targeting around the professionals who fit the community Katy Elite Suites was building, including therapists, attorneys, and insurance and health agencies.
Our strategy prioritized filling the tour calendar with the right people rather than the most people.
The results showed up in the quality of every conversation.
“We’re getting fewer leads, but the leads we do get are more than likely converting,” Mercedes says. “Before, we’d get an influx of leads, and half of them wouldn’t answer or were looking for something we couldn’t provide.”
Fewer wasted tours meant lower spend on unqualified clicks and higher conversion on the people who walked through the door.
Getting Katy Elite Suites from Half Capacity to Nearly Full in a Matter of Months
The turnaround happened fast.
“With Katy Elite Suites not being profitable when I came in, it was more important at that time to fill the offices,” Mercedes explains. “Within a few months, we had gone from half capacity to pretty much almost full. We maybe had two offices left.”
The impact reached beyond the ads themselves:
Because the campaigns brought in members who genuinely fit the community, those members started referring others.
“It has definitely helped organic leads come through, because we wouldn’t have the referrals or the word of mouth if they hadn’t come from somewhere to begin with,” Mercedes says. “A lot of our members came from Spacefully, and we have an additional set who found out about us through them.”
Profitability unlocked the next phase: reinvestment.
The Katy Elite Suites team is now pouring revenue back into the space with new couches, a refreshed lobby setup for clients and visitors, and updates to the members’ kitchen and conference rooms.
Meeting Rooms and Part-Time Memberships: Building Revenue That Bends With the Economy
Once the private offices filled, our Google Ads strategy evolved, shifting the focus toward meeting rooms and the new part-time memberships.
“Even if we have a full building, we don’t want the revenue to be stagnant,” Mercedes says. “We want to always be able to generate some type of additional revenue.”
That foresight paid off sooner than anyone hoped. As economic conditions shifted in 2026, some prospects could no longer afford a full private office.
“A lot of people are no longer able to afford the private offices, but that’s okay,” Mercedes explains. “Since we were able to focus on the meeting room usage and the part-time memberships, it’s helped us bridge the gap and get through this season.”
The team made bold physical changes to match.
They dissolved a large training-style conference room that was not generating revenue and rented it to a long-term member who needed a bigger team suite. In its place, they are converting a hard-to-sell interior office into a cozy four-to-six-person conference room built for intimate client meetings.
The monthly reporting rhythm keeps the whole engine responsive.
“One thing I enjoy is getting the monthly breakdown of the data behind everything,” Mercedes says. “That covers what our leads were, and if we were lower than the month before, why. For example, understanding that we were lower, but we converted more this time around helps me gauge what we need.”
She adds, “The last time we got on a Zoom call, we adjusted the landing page. A couple of photos were outdated, so we updated those. Now that we have newer desks and a newer lobby, I feel that also helped.”
Mercedes’ Advice for Operators: Shop Your Competition and Get Honest About Your Pricing
For operators facing similar occupancy struggles, Mercedes recommends a tactic she borrowed directly from her childcare days: shop your competition.
“What helped me, coming in as somebody who had no experience in this industry, was touring other locations nearby,” she says. “I didn’t tour them to mimic anything. I wanted to see what they’re offering, what their price range is, and whether the building is outdated or more luxury. That helped me see why we were having occupancy issues.”
Those tours prompted an honest self-assessment:
One smaller office carried a premium price while its interior fell short of the price tag.
“Be honest with yourself,” Mercedes advises. “Is what you’re selling actually worth the price you’re putting on it? We lowered the price for a couple of offices, then realized it wasn’t benefiting us the way we needed, so we went back and raised the price. The right person will pay the right price.”
Knowing the competition also equipped her for tough sales conversations.
“We’ve had people come in and say the space down the road is giving them the same size office for cheaper,” she says. “Doing those tours helped me respond: they might be lower in price, but are they offering you what we can? Are you going to get the full support from them that you would get from us?”
For Mercedes, the combination of specialist marketing support and hands-on community building made the difference.
“We are definitely grateful,” she says. “Being newer to the industry, I don’t think I would have been able to navigate this as quickly as I did without the support from Spacefully and from our owner. I’m someone who has to see and read things, so having all of the data definitely helps.”
Key Highlights From the Katy Elite Suites Turnaround
The Katy Elite Suites story shows what happens when targeted advertising, honest pricing, and genuine community building work together. Here is what stands out from their first year of transformation:
- Occupancy climbed from half capacity to nearly full in roughly three months, with only two offices remaining by September.
- Refined Google Ads targeting cut wasted spend by replacing high-volume, low-quality leads with fewer prospects who were far more likely to convert.
- Paid campaigns fueled organic growth, as members who arrived through Google Ads generated referrals and word-of-mouth momentum.
- Early diversification into meeting rooms and part-time memberships created a revenue bridge when economic conditions softened demand for private offices.
- Monthly data reviews and collaborative Zoom check-ins kept the strategy responsive, from budget decisions to landing page updates.
Katy Elite Suites, which once sat more than half empty, is now profitable, reinvesting in itself, and anchored by a community that refers business to each other and keeps former members coming back for their mail.
Ready to Fill Your Coworking Space With Members Who Belong There?
Ready to fill your coworking space, generate more revenue, and create a waiting list so you’re never scrambling to fill vacancies? Spacefully can help. Book a free introductory call to learn how Google Ads can bring new members into your space starting today.
