Mindspace pioneers landlords partnership model in U.S. and European flex space industry
Global coworking and flex space provider Mindspace has announced a new management agreement with an affiliate of Rubenstein Partners, L.P. to open the first Mindspace location in Philadelphia at The Wanamaker Office Building. The new location will comprise approximately 42,000 square feet of flexible office space, events area and tenant lounges, and is expected to open in Q3 of 2020.
Under the management agreement, Mindspace will develop and operate premium flexible workspaces for companies of various sizes on behalf of Rubenstein and under the Mindspace brand. Mindspace will provide additional management services through its “Mindspace for Landlords” offering, which aims to create the Mindspace experience for all tenants in the building. This includes managing building amenities such as meeting rooms and event spaces, communal areas, guest and check-in services, community programming, and food and beverage offerings as well as other concierge-type services.
“We’re very excited by this opportunity to bring our experience with coworking spaces in similar heritage buildings around the world to Philadelphia's Wanamaker Building,” says Mindspace CEO Dan Zakai. “This new relationship is a direct response to changes in the commercial real estate market. Landlords recognize that the traditional leasing model has been disrupted, and that flex spaces and coworking can help broaden their offerings to tenants. Our goal is to pioneer the next level of the business model in the industry through innovative partnerships with landlords. We are excited about our Wanamaker Building plans and the partnership with Rubenstein.”
The agreement signals an important step forward for the industry as a whole, and for Mindspace as a leading operator of flexible office space and buildings’ amenities on behalf of landlords who wish to elevate the tenants’ experience in their buildings. Rubenstein considered roughly eight different coworking operators before selecting Mindpsace as its chosen partner.
Mindspace recently inked four similar management agreements with landlords in Europe and Israel prior to this deal, totaling approximately 180,000 square feet. The Wanamaker Building will be the company’s third location in the United States, the first two being in San Francisco and Washington DC. Mindspace spans over 31 locations in 16 cities across the globe.
Built in 1911, The Wanamaker Building is a National Historic Landmark that originally housed one of America’s first department stores. Located adjacent to City Hall in Center City Philadelphia, the 1.4 million square foot office and retail property includes an approximately 660-space, subterranean parking garage.
“We were very selective with our choice of partner and are pleased to move forward with Mindspace. We believe that Mindspace’s approach is consistent with our strategy of delivering a differentiated office experience through providing enhanced amenities and hospitality-style service in the office sector,” said Read Mortimer, Senior Vice President at Rubenstein Partners.
The building ownership, consisting of Rubenstein and Amerimar Enterprises Inc., has now completed its multi-phased improvement plan for the Wanamaker Building, including a lobby modernization with central guest check-in, new tenant amenity space on the 8th and 9th floors, and significant updates to common areas and building systems.
