SAN FRANCISCO—With attention on the future of the workplace and co-working spaces, along with the ever-increasing price of commercial leases, Breather has a network of on-demand spaces that are conducive for getting work done, hosting meetings, escaping the daily grind, brainstorming with colleagues or simply taking a moment to relax for any length of time during the business day. From a 30-minute recharge to an entire day of productivity, Breather users can reserve more than 100 spaces across five cities (New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Montreal and Ottawa) via Breather's app or on desktop.
Breather is truly on-demand, meaning that users don't need a monthly membership or to sign a contract. Space reservations are made via app when needed. People use Breathers for a number of reasons from finding a place to host a meeting while traveling for work to a therapy session, a place to just hang out for an hour, a book club location or more.
Julia Davis, Breather's director of real estate, tells GlobeSt.com: "In a competitive real estate market like San Francisco, Breather fills a need not only for our users, but also for landlords. We have a flexible model and sign term leases, making us a great solution for owners with encumbered, or otherwise unmarketable space. Breather is a distributed network of beautifully designed spaces, meaning we are always looking for commercial office space between 500 to 3,500 square feet to add to our platform. Additionally, for many owners, Breather in their office building serves as a great amenity for other tenants."
Founded in 2012 by Julien Smith and Caterina Rizzi, Breather is a network of artfully designed, on-demand spaces, each specially curated to be peaceful and practical. To use the service, find and reserve a Breather space. Check in via smartphone and a personalized PIN code will be sent for the reservation, with the charge specific to the length of the booking. All Breather locations are equipped with some standard amenities (WiFi, notepads, candy, desk and lounge seating) as well as location-specific amenities and design details from fireplaces to bookcases, interesting art work and more.
There are 90,000-plus global members who use Breather for activities ranging from meetings with clients to working without distraction. Companies including Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Etsy and BuzzFeed use Breather to support remote workforces or empower workers to work where they want, when they want.
Breather is the most funded space in its vertical, with $28.5 million in capital from investors including Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures. There are more than 100 Breather locations in North America; 41 in New York, 30 in San Francisco and nine in Boston. Breather has signed leases with institutional owners including Beacon Capital, RXR and The Feil Organization as well as hotel groups.
As previously reported, the Airbnb founder discussed the platform's concept as it relates to hotels at the ULI Fall Meeting last year.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
