Tishman Speyer rolls out its co-working business in LA and Boston

As one of the country’s largest commercial landlords, Tishman Speyer is doubling down on its co-working model, putting it in direct competition with established players like WeWork and Knotel.

The commercial landlord, which has 165 million square feet across 400 buildings, said Monday that it has opened locations for its co-working business, Studio, in Boston and Los Angeles this month. And the company has plans to open more in New York, as well as enter markets such as Washington DC, Chicago, Rio De Janeiro and some undisclosed locations in Europe.

A Studio co-working space

Tishman first announced its co-working business in September, when it said it would open Studio’s first location at the landlord’s 600 Fifth Avenue in a 35,000-square-foot space. The service offers tenants hot desks, private offices and conference rooms.

In November, Tishman said it would also offer a service for blue-chip clients called Studio Private, which opened its first location at Rockefeller Center in December with flexible lease terms that start at one year for office space starting at 2,000 square feet and up to full-floor suites.

The move puts Tishman at odds with flexible office firms who already serve as tenants in its buildings. Last year, Spaces inked a lease for 110,000 square feet at Chrysler Building – which Tishman sold last month – and WeWork took 250,000 square feet at Tishman’s Long Island City office and retail complex, the JACX.

CBRE in November announced plans to start a flexible office space property management platform with landlords. The news ruffled the feathers of companies like Knotel, which said it would not use CBRE’s brokerage services.