Beacon Capital signs WeWork to 2 River North leases

The co-working company’s 7th and 8th Chicago outposts combine for more than 200K sf

Left to right: Alan Leventhal and Adam Neumann (front) and a rendering of 515 North State Street and 330 North Wabash Avenue (back) (Credit: Boston University and Wikipedia)
Left to right: Alan Leventhal and Adam Neumann (front) and a rendering of 515 North State Street and 330 North Wabash Avenue (back) (Credit: Boston University and Wikipedia)

Beacon Capital Partners has signed co-working giant WeWork to leases on two River North properties, setting the stage for more than 200,000 combined square feet of new shared office space to become available in November.

The Boston-based investment group inked WeWork to a deal for five floors at 515 State Street, as well as two floors of the AMA Plaza building at 330 North Wabash Avenue, a WeWork spokesperson told The Real Deal.

Combining for more than 3,100 desks, the new locations will represent the company’s seventh and eighth Chicago outposts. Rumors of the expansion first circulated in May.

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The 515 North State deal is part of Beacon’s ongoing effort to fill up the 394,000-square-foot vacancy that opened overnight in the 29-story tower in December when scandal-plagued Outcome Health backed out of its 17-floor lease.

WeWork added a sixth floor last month to its lease at 20 West Kinzie Street, padding its largest location in the city. Its previous expansion in April 2017 saw the addition of a new Loop site at 100 South State Street.

WeWork’s occupancy rate across its 283 worldwide locations hit 82 percent during the first quarter of 2018, having more than doubled both its membership and revenue year over year.

Leaders of the company have vowed to continue scouting new locations in Chicago, including some outside downtown.