Convene has officially arrived at the Wells Fargo Center in Downtown Los Angeles. The full-service office platform has been building out its three-floor space in the Brookfield-owned office tower for the last several months—since the
partnership was announced in September. The 50,000-square-foot highly amenitized and thoughtfully designed space will serve both tenants in the building and members of the Convene platform, and will include lounge areas, permanent office suites, yoga and meditation rooms, five meeting spaces that can hold up to 260 guests and a ground-floor retail space with a café and coffee shop. The hotel-style amenities are augmented with an on-site culinary team equipped with a commercial kitchen space and an in-building concierge platform. "The reception has been terrific so far,"
John Barganski, SVP of leasing at
Brookfield Properties, tells GlobeSt.com. "I think that as more people get to see the finished project of what Convene produced and what kind of environments they create in traditional high-rise setting, it is going to resonate with people even more. It had only been a conversation, but now you can go and physically touch it." The concept brings curated office amenities and well-designed spaces—the kind you see most often in creative-style spaces—to a traditional high-rise setting. It also helps to attract more innovative and pioneering clients to the Downtown market, something
all owners want to see. As a result, Brookfield isn't stopping with the Wells Fargo Center. In the coming months, it is rolling out the Convene concept at two other Downtown Los Angeles properties: Figueroa at Wilshire and 777 Tower, which will also serve the neighboring Ernst & Young office tower. "We are going to open Convene lounge concepts in two of our buildings that are tenant-specific," says
Barganski. "We have a partnership with Convene, and they are going to manage a tenant-only fitness facility and a tenant-only lounge facility. When people see how those are operated and staffed, it is going to be a real impetus to keep the demand going our way." This is just the beginning. Brookfield plans to roll the concept out to other Downtown office assets as well as office assets in other urban markets. "They really do an incredible job, from the food offerings to the staffing to the facilities themselves," says
Barganski. With more than 350 guests attending the launch event, it already seems like a hit. Scroll through the new space in the Wells Fargo Center in the slideshow above.