WeWork to Vacate 300K SF in Midtown Manhattan
Rejects lease for 20 floors of Tower 49 as it prepares to exit bankruptcy.
WeWork disclosed in a bankruptcy filing on Monday that it intends to reject a lease encompassing 20 floors in Tower 49 in Midtown Manhattan—including its corporate headquarters and coworking space for 2,800 WeWork members.
The coworking giant, which is closing up to 150 of its locations in a bankruptcy restructuring, notified the court that it will end its operations at Tower 49 on May 31 after unsuccessful negotiations to restructure a 300K SF lease in the building, which is located at 12 East 49th Street.
WeWork has been a tenant in Tower 49 since July 2016, when it entered a lease for 10 floors encompassing 159K SF in the building, which is owned by Kato International.
WeWork said in a statement it is reaching out to members impacted by the closure in an effort to relocate them to other WeWork locations.
WeWork told the court that the restructuring of its real estate portfolio has eliminated more than $8B in total future rent commitments. The company said it expects to emerge from Chapter 11 with 335 locations globally, including about 175 locations in the U.S. and Canada, and nearly 300K members.
WeWork received court approval this week for a deal with stakeholders for $450M in debt financing that will enable the company to emerge from bankruptcy next month. The deal will provide up to $50M to support the company until it emerges from bankruptcy and $400M in post-petition funding.
The “debtor-in-possession” loans will be secured by liens that will adjust the ownership equity stakes in WeWork, according to the company’s disclosure statement.
Operating under the name Cupar Grimmand, WeWork’s workplace management software partner Yardi will provide about $338M of the new financing and become the majority owner of WeWork—with a 60% stake—after the company emerges from bankruptcy, according to the filing.
WeWork rejected a last-minute bid from founder Adam Neumann, who tried to reclaim the coworking company with a purchase offer from his company, Flow—a bid Neumann said was worth $650M.
Neumann resigned as WeWork’s CEO in 2019 under pressure from directors after the company failed in its first attempt to go public with a valuation of $47B.