Dive Brief:
- Shared workspace provider WeWork is expanding its role and is now offering office design, construction and management services, according to Quartz.
- Companies that don’t want to share their workspace but want the WeWork signature design and amenities have contracted with the firm to outfit their offices. This move is part of WeWork's enterprise business, a push the company made after large companies began occupying entire floors of its shared work buildings.
- Perhaps the biggest indication that WeWork has tapped into a niche market is the fact that IBM is taking over an entire WeWork building in New York City, according to The Real Deal. IBM plans to move 600 employees into the 70,000-square-foot space, and WeWork will manage the building.
Dive Insight:
WeWork's target market for its enterprise division is companies with at least 1,000 employees that need 50,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet of office space.
WeWork's foray into this market underscores the ongoing shift in commercial real estate, as the elements that companies and employees want out of their modern work environment has changed dramatically over the last decade. Community-based live, work and play options are increasingly important — especially to the growing millennial workforce — and office design has come to reflect that trend.
Office amenities have also become more important to office tenants. Things that make life easier — such as meal service, emergency daycare and fitness center discounts — are winning over companies and their employees, and some items once considered amenities are now must-haves. Even the coolest, most cutting-edge space can't overcome outdated and unreliable building systems or a lack of modern technology.
