WeWork and RXR Team Up at 75 Rockefeller Plaza
Flexible offices take another new turn as two leading companies agree to share build-out costs and revenue generated from leases.
NEW YORK CITY—RXR Realty and WeWork have formed a new kind of collaborative agreement at 75 Rockefeller Plaza. The two companies will share the costs to build out 90,000 square feet of space across four floors. WeWork will lead the design and programming at the location. Both companies will share in the revenue generated by the space.
Although for WeWork, this is the first agreement of this nature in New York City, the flexible office provider states it has had success with similar partnerships in Latin America, Europe and Asia. This includes with TH Real Estate in London, Daman Land in Malaysia, Gemdale Properties in China and Helbor In Brazil.
“As we continue to expand our physical footprint, we are increasingly entering into partnerships with landlords that allow them to share in the growth and upside we are seeing on a global level,” says WeWork’s chief real estate development officer Granit Gjonbalaj.
Additional details regarding estimated construction costs and anticipated revenue were not disclosed. However, Scott Rechler, chairman and CEO of RXR, states “This partnership aligns directly with our overall development strategy and we look forward to working with the team at WeWork on new and exciting opportunities moving forward.”
On Thursday morning in a Bloomberg TV interview Rechler explained the space at 75 Rockefeller Plaza was currently vacant and would be used by WeWork’s enterprise clients—corporations using flexible workspace, not individuals on co-working desks. WeWork signed a 15-year lease, according to Rechler.
He explained RXR will participate in the upside based on WeWork’s ability to profitably lease the space. “We get a premium to market rate because WeWork is actually getting a premium to market rate because they are offering that service of flexibility and a shorter term lease and the full build out and procurement of the space,” said Rechler on the “Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas.”
In working to accommodate real estate to today’s uses and lifestyles, Rechler also noted that RXR Realty recently signed a deal with Airbnb leasing 10 floors at 75 Rockefeller Plaza. With people working and traveling, and the blending of home life and office work, RXR is adding hospitality to the skyscraper. “So you can actually travel like you live in New York,” he said. “You can come home and it feels like an apartment versus a hotel. But it has the standards and services of a 5-star hotel.”