WASHINGTON, DC–As The Yard, a co-working provider, executes on an aggressive expansion program for the US, it is in advanced talks to use ex-retail spaces in at least two locations, according to co-founder Richard Beyda. “Retail has been a little bit challenging for the last few years and there is a lot of vacant big box spaces,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “Forward-looking developers are converting those spaces into creative office use — and we are trying to get ahead of the curve and take down those spaces quickly.”

JLL highlighted this trend in a recent issue of its newsletter The Investor. It noted that WeWork was in talks with UK department store Debenhams to open a co-working center in the retailer's flagship store in London's Oxford Street. JLL also cited an interview Mark Dixon, chairman of IWG Group, which owns the Regus and Spaces office brands, had with Bloomberg in which he said he would be opening more facilities in retail buildings. “We would expect to have quite a few locations in a year or two in more retail-type situations,” Dixon said. “They are quite convenient for people if they have good parking and good facilities.”

Growth Trajectory For The Yard

It is not surprising that the The Yard is forward-looking about its space needs. The company has set an aggressive expansion schedule for the next two years. It plans to open a new location in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn within the next two weeks and it has an additional nine locations it is negotiating that it hopes to open over the next 12 months. Following those nine new locations will be an additional 20 locations over the course of the next year.

The company is targeting markets that it calls urban/suburban, around high-density gateway markets on the East and West coasts. “Within those markets we look for a bit of a residential edge,” Beyda says. “So we'll open a location in a city like San Francisco or a strong town like Brooklyn and then try to hit both the residential market and the business centers.”

Enterprise Customers

Beyda also says The Yard is experiencing huge demand from enterprise customers and it is allocating about 30% of its offerings for that group. This is a shift from the last few years when the company's modules accommodated teams of four, six or eight. “In our new builds we're offering modules able to accommodate teams of 40 and 50,” he says.