401 Park Avenue South and CEO Mark Dixon (LinkedIn, Google Maps)
One company betting on a Manhattan office comeback is IWG, which is adding two more coworking locations to its New York City portfolio.
The Swiss-based conglomerate and WeWork rival has reached agreements to take up coworking space at 401 Park Avenue South and 14 Penn Plaza, Crain’s reported. The former will be under the Spaces brand and take up 63,000 square feet, while the latter will be under IWG’s Regus brand and occupy 28,000 square feet.
14 Penn Plaza (Wells Hill Partners)
The Park Avenue South location was formerly operated by WeWork, while the Penn Plaza location was run by Virgo. IWG is betting on more people utilizing flexible workspaces as they return to offices following the pandemic.
Several Regus locations contended with bankruptcy over the last year. IWG appears to be recovering, however, reporting 1 million new users this year. The company also bought a majority stake in The Wing, which caters to female professionals and was nearing bankruptcy.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of work, many companies are moving forward with acquisitions or partnerships in flexible office spaces, believing employers will adopt more hybrid models moving forward.
WeWork is planning on going public with a special-purpose acquisition company later in 2021. The company is also discussing a $150 million partnership with Cushman & Wakefield to cater to office tenants who desire more flexibility.
Knotel, another coworking company, endured recent struggles that forced it to declare bankruptcy. Nevertheless, the company was acquired by Newmark earlier this year.
[Crain’s] — Holden Walter-Warner
