WeWork grows again with another Melbourne location
Co-working juggernaut WeWork is pushing ahead with its national rollout, signing a deal for another location in Melbourne that will be its second-largest in Australia.
WeWork will lease the top six floors of office space at 120 Spencer Street, which is owned by a CBRE Global Investors-sponsored fund.
Sources suggested the rent was about $480 per square metre plus outgoings for the deal, in which the tenant will take about 8600sqm of space on a 15-year lease.
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The 23-storey, 32,223sqm tower opposite Southern Cross railway station offers large, column-free floorplates with natural light and views of the river. It has two levels of basement carparking. A lobby redevelopment is planned for next year, including shops and upgrades to end-of-trip facilities.
More than 2000 WeWork members will be housed in the new location when it opens from April.
Although the co-working trend has been focused on entrepreneurs and technology workers, the US-based operator says that larger companies are also increasingly taking space in its offices alongside start-up businesses.
“As we grow our presence in Melbourne, our Spencer Street location will offer companies of all scales a light-filled, collaborative and innovative workplace experience,” WeWork head of real estate for Australia and New Zealand Jonathan Kearins says.
“WeWork has more than a thousand corporate members worldwide. More and more medium, large and enterprise businesses are understanding the impact workspace can have on employee performance.
“At the same time, employees are increasingly demanding more flexibility and engagement with respect to their workplace.”
CBRE Global Investors director of investment for Australia and New Zealand Chris Johnston welcomed the new tenant, saying: “They are a natural fit with our education tenants as well as corporates who have been increasingly occupying the building recently.”
In Australia, WeWork has nine open locations and another five announced. Of these, its Melbourne locations include 152 Elizabeth St, in the London Stores building owned by the Alter family’s private company Ardnew, and 401 Collins St, owned by Impact Investment Group.
The group will next year open another site at 222 Exhibition St. It has a space at 114 William St, and has been rumoured to be eyeing three floors in a Lendlease-owned Collins Street complex.
In Sydney, WeWork has struck a deal with GPT and its co-owners to take space in Liberty Place on Castlereagh Street. It also agreed to take all six floors at Lendlease’s timber office building at Barangaroo South and has locations at 64 York St and 383 George St.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
