New York-based WeWork LLC will open its newest location in the Puget Sound region early next year in Bellevue. Lincoln Square will have 80,000 square feet of space to offer its new tenants, with outdoor terraces providing views of the mountains and Lake Washington.
“There is incredible momentum in Bellevue, and new global opportunity in education, innovation and business,” said Gina Phillips, the Pacific Northwest lead for WeWork, in an email. “Four-hundred Lincoln Square is an ideal location for current WeWork members eager to have workspaces on both sides of the water, and for companies of all sizes who are seeking a new way to work.”
WeWork, a provider of co-working space that targets entrepreneurs, has continued to grow its presence in Seattle since its debut in February 2014. Phillips says when WeWork first arrived, it opened its doors on a 55,000-square-foot space in South Lake Union at 500 Yale Avenue North. Its second location, the Holyoke Building in Pioneer Square on Spring Street, opened last September and provides another 40,000 square feet of office space. The third location opened in February of this year, a 32,000-square-foot space in Westlake Tower at 1601 5th Avenue. These three locations provide a total of 127,000 square feet of space available for sublease in Seattle.
“We are thrilled to be part of the downtown and South Lake Union neighborhoods,” said Phillips in the same email. “Our members, from startups to established and growing companies, at WeWork’s current locations at Westlake Tower, South Lake Union and the Holyoke Building are creating amazing things, including virtual reality software to new tools for urban planning.”
Plans available in Seattle begin at $45 a month, which provides access to events, benefits and a digital app, which provides a connection to over 50,000 members and two credits for booking space in open seats every month. The plans then go up to $450 a month for a private office that can accommodate up to 100 people.
For many WeWork tenants, such as Andrew Hunter, a corporate real estate broker for SVN, the decision to sublease office space is one about flexibility because membership allows users to have access to a workspace without signing a long-term lease. “It’s convenient because it allows its tenants to rent space on demand,” said Hunter. “They have an available membership as well that allows use of any of the offices in the country. It’s a pretty great deal.”
According to Hunter, WeWork also makes sense for expanding firms that need office space for only a year or less before relocating employees into new office space or for companies that don’t need more than a desk and computer to do business. While WeWork is popular among tech startup companies, large companies such as Pinterest and Salesforce have offices in the Pioneer Square and South Lake Union locations as well. “I definitely think WeWork had tech people in mind when they created their vision,” said Hunter.
While flexibility is the driving factor that draws many tenants to sublease workspace with WeWork, for others it is a less affordable option. WeWork’s rates for an office sublease calculate to approximately $90 per square foot a year, compared to the average class A office space lease of $50. However, Hunter says the higher rates still makes sense for businesses looking for a smaller office and for those looking for short-term options.
