Industrious partners with landlords to offer tenants satellite workplaces

Pilot program starts in Southern California with Granite Properties; flex-office providers have struggled in Covid economy

Granite CEO Michael Dardick and Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari
Granite CEO Michael Dardick and Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari

Flexible-office provider Industrious is partnering on a program with office landlords that will give tenants the ability to use Industrious’ offices nationwide.

Potentially providing an additional source of revenue in a bruising economy, Industrious is launching “Oasis Enterprise” with a pilot program at Granite Properties-owned buildings in Southern California — two in Los Angeles County and two in Orange County.

Under the program, Granite’s tenants at the Burbank, Glendale, Orange and Newport Beach sites will have an option to buy an Industrious membership at a discount when they sign or renew a lease with Granite. Industrious, which announced the new program, has 15 locations in Southern California but the membership would entitle tenants to use any of its 100 locations in 50 cities nationwide.

Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari said “employees have more choice than ever in where and how they do their best work and companies need to act accordingly.”

In November 2018, Industrious took 24,000 square feet across two floors at Granite’s tower at 500 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale.

“Oasis Enterprise” was born from conversations with landlords, said Industrious’ Eivind Karlsen. Landlords want to accommodate the needs of their tenants with “increasingly distributed workforce,” he said. 

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Jason Purvis, senior managing director of Texas-based Granite Properties, said the pandemic has accelerated those trends.

“We really wanted to look at how we could be a leader in providing a variety of flexible space options to our customers,” Purvis said, noting that just 20 to 30 percent of Granite’s office tenants have returned to those locations. The slow pace has been a concern of landlords nationwide; during third quarter earnings calls, many reported tenants were paying rent but keeping their employees at home.In addition to Granite, Industrious is in discussion with a few other landlords about the program, said Karlsen, who did not identify them.

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The work-from-home world has pummeled the flex-office sector this year, and Industrious did not come out unscathed. In the early spring, coronavirus lockdowns led the company Industrious to lay off about 20 percent of its workforce; another 10 percent was furloughed. Those furloughed workers have since returned, according to the company. Industrious also plans to open its first overseas location in Singapore next year.