'Well-known co-working company' eyes space in a new Bellevue towerBy KAREN DUCEY
Among commercial real estate brokers, it's rumored that WeWork, a global company that offers co-working spaces, is looking at leasing space in a new Bellevue office tower. WeWork has three locations in Seattle, including this one in South Lake Union.
A recent report further feeds the rumor that co-working company WeWorkplans to lease a good amount of space in the 400 Lincoln Square office tower that's going up in downtown Bellevue.
The rumor has been making the rounds for months, and comes at time when co-working is becoming more popular nationally and rental rates for short-term office space in Washington state are increasing significantly.
The Instant Group, a global company that tracks the co-working industry, says it cost an average of $794 a month to rent a desk from a co-working company in Washington last year. That was ninth highest in the country, and 14 percent more than in 2014.
So it's not surprising that WeWork might be looking for space on the Eastside. The company, which is now valued at $16 billion by its investors, has three locations in the Puget Sound region, all in Seattle.
Commercial real estate company CBRE (NYSE: CBG) reports that "a well-known co-working company with offices in Seattle recently expressed interest in several floors of a building under construction in the Bellevue central business district."
Two towers are under construction in Bellevue, the 31-story Lincoln Square and the 16-story Centre 425, though talk among commercial real estate brokers is that WeWork is looking at Lincoln. Asked about that in February, a WeWork spokesperson said the company had no comment. We reached out again on Tuesday and will update this post when we hear back.
Around the world, WeWork has 66 locations. Those spaces are home to more than 9,000 businesses and more than 40,000 members, representing growth of 225 percent in 2015, according to the Instant Group. Membership is not restricted to startups, according to Instant Group, which reported that WeWork is proving "highly popular with corporate occupiers, such asMicrosoft" (Nasdaq: MSFT).
Instant Group reported that statewide last year, there were a total of 83 co-working centers in Washington, or 4 percent more than in 2014.
In Seattle, there were 41 centers in 2015, the same as the year before, but it looks as though that will change. CBRE reported that two unnamed co-working companies are looking downtown for additional locations.
The rise of "the contingent workforce" along with demand by corporate occupiers drove the co-working industry nationally in 2015. Co-working grew more than 10 percent across the United States and centers that offer both executive suites and co-working spaces expanded by nearly 13 percent last year, according to the Instant Group.