The Wing’s former HQ asks $23M

Months after The Wing was clipped by “global economic challenges,” its former headquarters in the East Village has hit the market.

The dormant co-working operator’s office at 137 Second Avenue was listed for sale for $22.5 million, according to a Cushman & Wakefield listing first reported by Curbed. The Cofinance Group purchased the property from former owners, including Joel Schreiber, for $18 million in June 2019.

Prior to that sale, the women-focused firm leased the entire property in early 2019 for a reported high-$60s per square foot. The property is three stories tall and spans 15,000 square feet.

The Wing shot to popularity after it was founded in 2016 with more than $100 million invested by Sequoia Capital, WeWork and Airbnb. The company, which became known for its Instagram-worthy interior decoration, peaked at 11 locations across two countries.

But controversy and the pandemic-era closures dogged the company, which nearly went bankrupt in 2020. Co-founder Audrey Gelman walked away from the firm at the time as it faced allegations of mistreating people of color and a gender discrimination lawsuit. 

The company went out of business in August, closing offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Chicago.

A buyer could recreate the picture-perfect image The Wing tried to produce in its offices — the furniture is available for sale too, according to Curbed.

The property was built in 1884 and once served as the Stuyvesant Polyclinic and the Cabrini Medical Center. It includes a finished basement, private outdoor space and 50 feet of frontage on Second Avenue. It also has flexible zoning, meaning it can be used for a variety of purposes, including residential.

A Cushman & Wakefield team including Hunter Moss and Michael DeCheser have the listing.

— Holden Walter-Warner