WeWork Moves To Keep 89 More Locations, Bringing Rent Savings To Over $11B
WeWork plans to restructure dozens of additional leases as it moves closer to emerging from bankruptcy.
The coworking operator plans to assume 89 leases across the U.S. and Canada, according to a Friday bankruptcy court filing. The new lease assumptions would bring its total rent commitment reductions to more than $11B, according to a news release.
"Strengthening our real estate portfolio could not have been possible without the collaboration of our landlord partners, to whom we are immensely grateful," WeWork Global Head of Real Estate Peter Greenspan said in a statement. "Their partnership, combined with our improved operational efficiency and unwavering commitment to our members, sets the stage for WeWork’s success in this new chapter."
WeWork has determined the future of 97% of its global portfolio and will still need to act on several other leases, according to a spokesperson. The new agreements come after it has already assumed 77 other leases.
The assumptions include 18 locations in New York; five each in Chicago and San Francisco; three each in Miami, Denver and D.C.; two each in Dallas, Boston and Los Angeles; and one in Houston. The full list with addresses starts on Page 33 of WeWork's filing.
Some of the leases on the list still need to have their agreements finalized, and the amendments of lease terms will be made clear in future filings, according to a WeWork spokesperson.
The filing also included five additional leases that WeWork is proposing to reject in New York City, Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago and Vancouver.
About two weeks ago, WeWork assumed leases at 16 other offices, many of which resulted in reductions to its footprint and rent.
At the end of April, it was revealed that Yardi Systems was to become the majority owner of the coworking giant once it emerged from bankruptcy. The firm's investment arm, Cupar Grimmond, contributed $337M of the $450M the company needed to get out of bankruptcy.
Yardi will take a 60% stake in the company, while other lenders will take over 20% and a group including SoftBank will own the last 20% stake.
WeWork has considerably dwindled its footprint since entering bankruptcy.
The downsizing included plans to close its Manhattan headquarters, one of WeWork's largest coworking locations at 300K SF across 20 floors, in April. The space at 12 E. 49th St. held 2,800 members.
As part of this restructuring, the firm said it plans to operate 170 locations across the United States and Canada and 337 locations globally.
At the company's peak, WeWork operated 850 locations globally with about 700,000 members at the end of 2022. The company projects it will end the year with nearly 300,000 members.
