A co-working firm took WeWork’s former space at the Security Building in downtown Miami.
Vast Coworking Group leased 20,300 square feet on the seventh, eighth and ninth floors of the building at 117 Northeast First Avenue, according to a news release from the tenant. An unidentified franchiser signed a 10-year deal to run the space under Vast’s Venture X brand, a spokesperson for Vast said.
Fuse Group International, led by Eyal Peretz, owns the 17-story Security Building. The Fort Lauderdale-based firm bought the building in 2021 by purchasing the loan on the property, which faced foreclosure at the time.
Shortly after that, Fuse Group sued WeWork, which had leased the entire building in 2015 for its Miami flagship for a 15-year term. The suit alleged the co-working firm vacated the property in 2020 and stopped paying rent in violation of its lease, according to the complaint. WeWork responded with a countersuit, claiming that the co-working firm and the landlord had signed a settlement in 2021, agreeing that WeWork would vacate the building and pay nearly $2.3 million to the landlord. In 2022, a judge approved both sides’ requests to dismiss the dueling suits.
Since then, Fuse has been working to fill the building, leasing about 20 percent of the space as of last spring to office space provider Myflexoffice.
Vast Coworking, which will be the Security Building’s anchor tenant, will have 74 offices, as well as a café and networking area, the release says. It’s expected to open this year, according to Matt Cozza, vice president of development at Venture X.
Led by Jason Anderson, Vast is an affiliate of West Palm Beach-based United Franchise Group, which has franchises in various industries such as co-working, signs and graphics, and food concepts, according to United Franchise’s LinkedIn. Vast has more than 190 co-working outposts spanning 2.4 million square feet in nine countries, its website shows. Aside from Venture X, Vast’s other brands are Office Evolution and Intelligent Office.
WeWork filed for bankruptcy in November, putting multiple leases across the U.S. on the chopping block, though none in South Florida. The firm has six outposts in the tri-county region, including at the Southeast Financial Center at 200 South Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami.
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South Florida
Fuse Group acquires Security Building in downtown Miami, plans to sue WeWork for alleged lease breach