The evolving white-collar workforce no longer operates solely from the office as previous generations did, and workplace-as-a-service providers are taking advantage of that shift by moving workspaces into new realms.
While some flex and shared-office companies have grown beyond the traditional office into retail, hospitality and even residential spaces using their own brands, others are expanding through partnerships with major landlords to scale, such as Industrious' new partnership with Macerich, the latest move in the coworking company's growth strategy.
Brooklyn-based coworking provider Industrious inked a deal with shopping center real estate investment trust Macerich last week to transform a former Barney’s store into coworking space at its Scottsdale Fashion Square center in Arizona.
The national partnership includes opening several Industrious locations within Macerich properties.
“In the attempt to build a highly amenitized workplace with a broad diversity of spaces, if you put the workplace inside of a mixed-use setting rather than a traditional office building, that allows you to expand and elevate the offering,” Industrious co-founder and CEO Jamie Hodari told Bisnow. “Being in a mall setting or a retail setting supercharges that.”
This is not the coworking provider’s first partnership with a major landlord. Industrious entered a license agreement with Blackstone Group-owned EQ Office in June to bring collaborative workspaces to the Howard Hughes Center in West Los Angeles, with plans to operate other locations down the line. Industrious will manage 100K to 140K SF of flex-office suites in the six-building, 1.4M SF Howard Hughes Center.
While competitors like coworking giant WeWork have opted to expand through the creation of various business lines under the “We” banner — such as its shared-housing product WeLive, wellness concept Rise by We, retail concept WeMRKT and office management product Powered by We — Industrious aims to partner with major owners and operators in the real estate space to scale. The company is particularly seeking out those owners looking for new and improved ways to revitalize their properties by getting in on the coworking craze, even if that means partnering with a third-party provider to do so.
Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/office/industrious-has-already-partnered-with-blackstones-eq-office-and-macerich-whos-next-91659?rt=61568?utm_source=CopyShare&utm_medium=Browser