WeWork is looking to exit its first two D.C.-area leases as part of its bankruptcy process, both in the District’s downtown area.
The coworking giant asked a court to terminate its leases at 655 New York Ave. NW in Mount Vernon Triangle and 1333 New Hampshire Ave. NW in Dupont Circle, according to a court filing Sunday.
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These locations were two in a new batch of 17 leases across seven states and D.C. that WeWork is rejecting as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, which began in November.
“As part of WeWork’s strategic restructuring efforts, we have made the difficult decision to end our operations at 1333 New Hampshire Ave NW and 655 New York Avenue NW,” a WeWork spokesperson told Bisnow in an email. “Washington D.C. remains a priority market for WeWork and we look forward to continuing to provide our members with flexible workspace solutions at our other locations in the city.”
WeWork leased 137K SF in 2019 at 655 New York, a massive development from Douglas Development and Brookfield that incorporated new offices above a block of historic low-rise buildings.
In December 2022, the Washington Business Journal reported WeWork was closing its space there, but the spokesperson told Bisnow Monday that the location has remained operational but that it now seeks with the latest filing to close it May 31.
The Dupont location at 1333 New Hampshire Ave. NW has closed. It is no longer included on the company’s website, and a Reddit post from February shows a notice from the company that the space would no longer be available for on-demand bookings after Feb. 13. A WeWork spokesperson said the company relocated members from that space last month.
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That office was in a building WeWork jointly acquired through its investment arm formed in 2017. WeWork Property Advisors purchased the 350K SF property with The Meridian Group in 2018 with plans to open a 100K SF coworking space in the building.
A year and a half later, however, it still hadn't opened the location and put 56K SF of its planned space up for sublease. It didn’t open that location until late 2022.
As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, WeWork has so far arranged to keep three D.C.-area leases: two downtown and one in Bethesda.
Last week, the company filed a motion to hold on to its Capitol Crossing location with an agreement to reduce the square footage, rent term and rent rate. It also struck deals in February to keep its offices at the Carr Properties-owned Midtown Center downtown and The Wilson building in Bethesda, both with reduced space and cheaper rent.
WeWork still has at least nine locations open in the D.C. area, according to its website. The D.C. region didn't have any locations on the list of 69 initial leases WeWork sought to reject when it filed for bankruptcy in November.
Across its U.S. and Canada portfolio, WeWork has renegotiated 25 leases and filed notices to reject 109 leases, some of which are pending court approval, according to the spokesperson.
Last week, WeWork said it has determined a path forward for 90% of its 500 global locations and is aiming to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. and Canada by the end of May.
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