After a long period of hibernation, coworking company Knotel is waking up and making moves.

The company has signed a 34K SF lease at 22761 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu that it will use for coworking space, The Real Deal reported, marking the largest office lease signed in the swanky, celebrity-riddled town in a decade, according to CBRE.

Malibu has a decidedly suburban beach-town feel and isn't exactly an office hub, though it is slated to get about 40K SF more via a mixed-use center being developed by Pacific Equity Properties.

CBRE's Stan Gerlach and Jeff Gerlach brokered the Knotel deal, according to TRD.

Many coworking providers are establishing locations closer to suburban and residential areas as the remote work trend continues, keeping people out of the urban environments where coworking proliferated before the pandemic.

Malibu is the latest in a string of new locations for Knotel, following a roughly 40K SF lease for an adaptive reuse warehouse space in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood, that city's equivalent of LA's Arts District. In addition to the Miami warehouse, Knotel will also occupy 18K SF in a new high-end development in West Palm Beach, Commercial Observer reported.

Like many other coworking companies, Knotel had a rough couple of years, culminating in declaring bankruptcy in early 2021 and its subsequent purchase by Newmark. The company has laid low until the last few months.