From left: 50 West 28th Street, Adam Neumann, and 599 Broadway (Credit: Google Maps and Getty Images) WeWork is continuing its push for mid-sized tenants, signing two leases in Chelsea and SoHo for its HQ by WeWork segment. The co-working firm is taking a total of 45,500 square feet at Stellar Management’s 50 West 28th Street and ABC Management’s 599 Broadway, the firm told The Real Deal. The larger transaction is for the West 28th Street property, with WeWork agreeing to a 34,500-square-foot deal to occupy floors three, five and 12 at the 16-story building. WeWork signed the lease last week and expects to open in March. The company also signed an 11,000-square-foot deal for the sixth floor of the Broadway property, where it expects to open in December. Since launching its mid-sized tenants division last August, WeWork has expanded its HQ footprint to 700,000 square feet, outpacing its own internal growth target, according to the company. It set a goal of securing 1 million square feet by next summer. WeWork launched the division with a batch of six transactions totaling 440,000 square feet. Its first HQ locations are 490 Broadway, 149 Fifth Avenue, 115 East 23rd Street, 38 West 21st Street, 8 West 40th Street and 13-15 West 27th Street. The new transactions represent the 10th and 11th leases that WeWork signed for the segment. Granit Gjonbalaj, WeWork’s chief development officer, said that there is “exceptional demand” for HQ locations. The Chelsea and Soho branches will open at full occupancy, he said. HQ locations are currently only in New York and San Francisco. The firm said that it plans to open in new markets by the end of the year. The company has been closing major lease transactions on its way to claiming the distinction of being Manhattan’s largest office tenant. It clinched the milestone with a 258,344 lease at TH Real Estate’s 21 Penn Plaza and followed up with a series of deals including a 115,000-square-foot transaction at 149 Madison Avenue.
WeWork is taking on two more properties in Manhattan for HQ by WeWork. The company has leased a building at 1 Pierrepont Plaza from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which will house its new headquarters. Since launching the division, which targets mid-size tenants, in August, WeWork has taken on a total of 700,000 sq ft and is aiming to secure one million sq ft in the first year of operation.