Adam Neumann’s next big move is another coworking business. It sounds like WeWork, but for grownups.
This week the WeWork co-founder and former CEO announced a new enterprise: Workflow, a co-working concept that is less beer and ping-pong, more mushroom coffee and sustainably-sourced, ergonomic furniture.
At least that is the vibe from initial reports and the company’s website.
The company will avoid some aspects of the business model that got WeWork into trouble, including signing long-term leases with landlords, Bloomberg reports. Workflow will build office space in buildings it already owns through Flow, the Miami-based apartment startup launched in 2022, or by partnering with landlords to manage space.
The company, however, continues Neumann’s penchant for branding led by compound words (WeWork, WeLive, WeGrow). Flow’s mission statement is “oneness: the fact or state of being unified or whole, though comprised of two or more parts.”
Neumann told Bloomberg that while he does not intend to get back into the office business, Flow clients wanted access to coworking space.
“It was obvious that the demand is there,” he said.
After the pandemic, as WeWork retreated from the market, landlords turned to converting unused floors into flexible office space themselves. WeWorks’ competitors have also raced to fill the void. Industrious’ CEO Jamie Hodari recently told TRD that this is the “golden age” of flex office.
It seems like Workflow, for now, is targeting a modest pocket of that demand. It also sounds like the gentle yoga of office work: Ease into returning back to the office by leaving the couch in your Flow apartment for the plush but designed-for-focus cushions of our WorkFlow co-working space. Recognize and honor the fact that you are distracted by the somewhat ominous but meticulously curated artwork on the wall, and gradually return your focus to your laptop for the next nine hours. Breathe.
What we’re thinking about: What have your interactions with city agencies been like since the mayor was indicted? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: A Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest will be held in Washington Square Park on Oct. 27, according to Gothamist. The prize is $50.
Elsewhere in New York…
— First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright is stepping down, Politico New York reports. It is not yet clear who will take her place. Her new husband, David Banks, will leave as schools chancellor in mid-October. Mayor Eric Adams moved up Banks’ original Dec. 31 departure date.
— A new Marist poll shows that 69 percent of New Yorkers think Mayor Eric Adams should resign, WABC reports. The poll found that 80 percent think he shouldn’t run for office again, but 30 percent think he should serve out the rest of his term.
— If there weren’t enough chaos in the city, Pix11 reports that those giant parachuting spiders are heading for New York.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Friday was $16.5 million for a three-story townhouse at 129 West 11th Street in Greenwich Village. It last sold in July 2012 for $9.6 million.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $5.8 million for a 14,000-square-foot industrial complex at 170 Second Avenue in Gowanus. Robert Lawrence and DJ Johnston of Matthews Real Estate Investment Services listed the property.
New to the Market: The highest price of a residential property hitting the market was $13.9 million for a condo unit at Central Park Tower, 217 West 57th Street. The apartment is 2,700 square feet and is listed by the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group and Kane Manera.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was by Nikolai Katz Architect for 29,347 square feet at 1756 Anthony Avenue in the Bronx. It calls for an eight-story residential building. — Joseph Jungermann