WeWork doubles down on space in downtown Durham
WeWork, the ever-expanding co-working giant, will now rent office space in two of downtown Durham’s newest buildings.
The company, which provides co-working space to companies and individuals, said Monday that it will occupy three floors and more than 80,000 square feet of space at one of the Durham Innovation District buildings being built by Boston-based developer Longfellow Real Estate Partners.
The location is expected to open later this summer and have space for more than 1,300 members, WeWork said in a release.
“This location validates our commitment to Durham and more specifically, our support in the growth and revitalization of downtown,” WeWork’s Southeast General Manager Bobby Condon said in a statement. “... We are thrilled to provide a growing space and platform which supports the innovation, entrepreneurship and strong economic growth coming out of Durham. We look forward to expanding our footprint throughout the Bull City in the years to come.”
The “Innovation District” is the brainchild of Longfellow, and could one day become a 15-plus-acre campus that will add around 900,000 square feet of office and lab space in the downtown core. Currently, the district is made up of two twin buildings at 200 and 300 Morris St. WeWork will take up space in the 300 Morris building, while the 200 Morris building has been completely leased by Duke Clinical Research Institute.
Previously, New York-based WeWork agreed to lease the fourth and fifth floors of One City Center, the 27-story office and residential tower that has changed Durham’s skyline. WeWork, which opened there last fall, has more than 58,000 square feet in One City Center.
Rentable space at WeWork’s One City Center location can get you anything from a dedicated desk for $375 per month, a two-person private office for $1,000 a month or even a 20-seat room for $4,000 per month, according to the company’s website.
Co-working spaces have grown in popularity in recent years with small companies that don’t want to spend a lot or commit to long building leases, as well with for freelance workers who don’t have a permanent office. Beyond Durham, WeWork has previously announced that it would be expanding to Raleigh, leasing space at One Glenwood, a 10-story office tower in downtown Raleigh, as well as a location in Charlotte.
The Raleigh location is expected to open later this year.
The co-working industry has been one of the biggest drivers in office space in the Triangle.
According to real estate services firm JLL, co-working companies, such as WeWork and Spaces, accounted for the majority of pre-leasing deals across the Triangle. Of the 550,000 square feet of pre-leasing deals signed last year, co-working companies made up 33.2 percent of the activity, JLL reported.
The co-working concept already has a track record in Durham, as Capitol Broadcasting-owned American Underground has created a thriving community of tech startups in downtown by offering affordable office space and helpful services for young companies.
In 2017, American Underground also launched a smaller co-working space called Gridworks in the Kress Building downtown, aimed at small businesses and freelancers rather than high-growth tech startups. But the American Underground moved Gridworks’ tenants to a new location and stopped accepting new members last year after the startup Cloud Factory expanded into the Kress Building, an American Underground spokesman told The News & Observer.