A couple of months ago, WeWork chief executive officer John Santora said that for the “right building in the right markets, we’ll take a new lease.” That includes New York City, a longtime key for the co-working company’s ambitions.
WeWork signed a lease for 60,000 square feet at AmTrust RE’s 250 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, the tenant announced. WeWork will occupy five floors at the property and plans to open the space at the end of this year.
Santora in a statement said the city is “one of the critical launchpads for our new era of strategic growth.” The company, which has roots in the Big Apple, operates more than 3 million square feet in New York. In an interview for The Closing this spring, Santora singled out New York City as one of the markets he liked.
But this is the company’s first new lease in the city since 2019, according to Allwork. A lot has changed for WeWork since then, including a restructuring that threatened the very identity of the company.
WeWork exited bankruptcy proceedings a little more than a year ago, slashing $4 billion in debt, adding an equity partner in Yardi Systems and revamping its C-suite with Cushman & Wakefield veteran Santora at the helm.
Terms of the lease were not disclosed. A trio of CBRE brokers represented the landlord in the lease, along with AmTrust RE’s Anne Holker. The tenant was represented by a JLL team including Peter Riguardi and Clark Finney.
WeWork’s 250 Broadway location will include a coworking lounge, meeting rooms, private offices, a wellness room, a mothers’ room and WeWork’s typical amenities, services and community-building events.
Notably, 250 Broadway is the same property that initially held the winning bid for a lease to the Department for the Aging, only for the agency to head to Alexander Rovt’s 14 Wall Street in an alleged scheme to favor the prominent donor to Mayor Eric Adams.
As for WeWork, Bookings for WeWork All Access, a monthly membership program, increased by 10 percent from January to April in New York City, according to the company.
WeWork plans to invest $80 million to $100 million across its global portfolio this year. The company’s portfolio includes nearly 600 locations, spanning 45 million square feet.
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