WeWork plans 4th Houston location
WeWork, the coworking giant that’s blanketed the country with stylish office space for entrepreneurs and corporations, is planning its fourth Houston location since arriving here two years ago.
The New York company has leased 56,000 square feet in downtown’s 609 Main, a new 48-story office tower between Texas Avenue and Capitol. The 609 Main building, developed and managed by Hines, is just a block away from WeWork’s first Houston location in the Jones building at 708 Main St., where it operates 86,000 square feet.
Between both locations, WeWork will have more than 2,400 desks.
WeWork often operates multiple locations near each other, the company said, citing examples in Dallas, Plano, Austin and other cities around the country.
“We see businesses want to be in specific areas or neighborhoods,” spokesman Leor Reef said.
Coworking facilities, which allow companies and individuals to lease desks, offices or larger suites with flexible rental terms, are playing an increasingly significant role in the modern workplace as companies lease smaller spaces and seek more flexible office environments. Houston-based Hines, one of the country’s largest owners and managers of office space, announced its own coworking initiative late last month.
The Hines2 — or Hines Squared — business will launch near the end of this year in two of the company’s buildings: 717 Texas, a 33-story in downtown Houston, and one in Salt Lake City.
In west Houston, three coworking companies operate facilities in CityCentre, the mixed-use development just south of Interstate 10 and inside Beltway 8.
“The three all actually meet different consumer needs and different market segments,” said Jonathan Brinsden, CEO of Houstonbased Midway, developer of CityCentre.
WeWork’s new downtown spot, which is expected to open by the end of the year, will occupy the building’s 25th and 26th floors. Rents will be similar to those at 708 Main, where a private office starts at $650 per month and a dedicated desk in a shared office starts at $455 per month. Access to an open workspace in a common area
starts at $250 per month.
The rents give coworking tenants 24-hour building access, business services and inclusion in community events such as professional workshops and cheese tastings. They will also have access to the building’s 7,000square-foot fitness center.
Each WeWork location has unique features with different office types and sizes, conference rooms, quiet areas and lounges, Reef said. The 708 Main location has a “wellness room” for meditation and nursing mothers, a “brainstorming room” with walls on which tenants can write, and an event space with a projector and sound system.
Outside downtown, the company has a location at the Galleria and one in The Woodlands.
“The modern office is evolving, and providing a coworking component is essential to a building’s longterm viability,” Philip Croker, Hines senior managing director, said in a statement. “Adding a tenant of WeWork’s caliber further reinforces the strength of 609 Main and will deliver an outstanding amenity for the building and its future occupants.”
Hines was represented in lease negotiations by Michael Anderson and Damon Thames with Colvill Office Properties. Mark O’Donnell with Savills Commercial Real Estate represented WeWork.