250 Park Avenue and IWG CEO Mark Dixon (Google Maps, IWG)
IWG is doubling — no, tripling — down on its wager that flexible offices have a solid future in New York City.
The Switzerland-based company is expanding its presence in Manhattan for the third time in the past few weeks, planning a location at AEW Capital Management’s 250 Park Avenue. The co-working space will be the first under the company’s Signature brand in Manhattan, according to Crain’s.
The space will be 58,000 square feet, including private offices for high-end clients, four meeting rooms and various shared spaces. The Regus website shows a space at 250 Park Avenue that has 101 private offices, nine coworking desks and three meeting rooms at the moment. (IWG was formerly known as Regus.)
As many office space providers have struggled, IWG has been emerging relatively well from the rubble of Covid. The company touts greater than 1 million new users coming aboard in the past year. IWG also bought a majority stake in The Wing, a female-focused co-working company.
A month ago, IWG reached agreements for two other Manhattan co-working spaces, at 401 Park Avenue South and 14 Penn Plaza, increasing its portfolio by 91,000 square feet. One of the locations was previously run by Virgo, while the other was run by one of IWG’s biggest rivals, WeWork.
Flexible offices and co-working spaces have emerged as a potential trend in the city’s pandemic recovery as companies and employees look for shorter and cheaper leases.
SL Green’s Atlus Suites at its trophy tower One Vanderbilt will provide offices from 6,300 to 7,500 square feet and expects to be ready for tenants by the end of the year. APF Properties launched APFlex and provides 50,000 square feet of flexible office space in Manhattan. And WeWork is chugging along in the aftermath of its chaotic 2019; it was recently awarded a $10 million federal contract to provide office space to government workers.
[Crain’s] — Holden Walter-Warner
