Meet the co-working industry’s latest frontier: Staten Island. Spaces is opening 26,000-square-foot office at Triangle Equities’ Lighthouse Point development next to the ferry terminal.
Spaces’ parent company IGW, which changed its name from Regus in 2016, signed a lease at the property two years ago. It initially planned to open an office suite under its flagship brand, but now decided to open a co-working space instead, IWG’s head of network development in North America Michael Berretta said.
Meanwhile, Spaces plans to open its first Brooklyn location at Quinlan Development Group and Building & Land Technology’s Pioneer Building at 41 Flatbush Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn. No lease has been signed, but Berretta said negotiations are “pretty far along.”
CBRE’s Scott Sloves, who also brokered the Lighthouse Point lease, is working with Spaces on the deal. He did not respond to requests for comment. Both locations are expected to open in the fourth quarter.
Spaces’ founder Martijn Roordink said expanding to the borough is part of the firm’s strategy to be in as many cities and neighborhoods as possible. “We’re building a network,” he said. “It’s all about getting a presence.” Spaces hopes that the Staten Island office will appeal to local residents who don’t want to commute to Manhattan every day, Roordink added. The company expects both locations to open in late 2018.
The $231 million Lighthouse Point development in St. George will also include apartments, retail space and a 175-room hotel.
The two offices will be Spaces’ fifth and sixth location in the Big Apple. The company is set to open coworking spaces at RXR Realty’s Helmsley Building and at Equity Office’s 1740 Broadway this year and already operates a location at the Falchi building in Long Island City. In December, the Commercial Observer reported that Spaces signed a 103,000-square-foot lease at Brookfield Property Partners’ 424-434 West 33rd Street.
The Netherlands-based Spaces was acquired by Regus in 2015.