An international co-working network with locations in 16 cities and four countries has signed a lease for 72,000 square feet of office space in the soon-to-be-completed Triangle Building near Denver Union Station.
New York City-based WeWork will open its first Denver location early next year in the triangle-shaped office building at 1550 Wewatta St., developers East West Partners announced Monday. Investors recently valued the co-working giant at $10 billion.
“Co-working and shared workspaces are a huge trend internationally, nationally and right here in Denver and is a concept we really wanted to bring to the Union Station neighborhood,” East West Partners managing partner Chris Frampton said.
WeWork is the second major tenant announcement for the $85 million, 10-story office building.
Liberty Global, a spinoff of John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp., announced in February that it would be moving downtown and leasing the top three floors — 70,000 square feet — of the new building.
Construction should be completed in September, with the first tenants moving in the first quarter of 2016, Frampton said.
WeWork will have its own entrance on the ground floor and occupy the building’s second, third and fourth floors.
“They’re really onto something,” Frampton said. “There’s a huge cohort of folks in the world who work and need office space but not necessarily a traditional office — walls, conference room and a kitchen.”
WeWork officials declined to comment further Monday.
The New York-based company isn’t the only one betting on Denver’s desire for more alternative office space. While still making up only a fraction of the Denver office market, a number of local co-working spaces have opened locations or announced expansion plans in recent months.
With 47 locations worldwide, WeWork has put stakes down in Austin, Texas; Berkeley, Calif.; Boston; Chicago; Los Angeles; Miami; New York City; Philadelphia; Portland, Ore.; San Francisco; Seattle; and Washington, according to the company website. International locations include London, Amsterdam and Tel Aviv, Israel.
Communal workspace starts at $45 per month. Dedicated desks and private offices begin at $450, depending on size and location, according to the website. Members have access to all WeWork locations.
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/emilierusch
