Another Former WeWork Outlet Falls Into IWG’s Clutches

HONG KONG – IWG has taken over rival WeWork’s former flagship coworking space in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay, reported Mingtiandi on Thursday (4 November, SGT).

The former’s new flexible office space represents the company’s 6th branch under the Spaces brand in the city and the 4th IWG outlet that was taken over from WeWork.

Targeted to open by January 2022, the new coworking space is located on level 11 and 12 of Causeway Bay’s Tower 535. The outlet will contain over 300 workstations as well as private offices that can accommodate up to 60 individuals.

“Brought by the pandemic, the significant move to hybrid working leads to the unprecedented popularity of our flexible work products, and we have responded to these demands by local expansions,” commented Paul MacAndrew, IWG’s Manager for Hong Kong.

Notably, the company’s expansion in the city has gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 3 new outlets opened since 2020. All are located in former WeWork outlets, adding more than 150,000 sq ft to IWG’s portfolio. And all 3 are under the Signature brand, which is positioned as a more high-end version of Regus.

Last month, an entire extra level was added to the Signature outlet within the Holdings’ Gateway commercial complex in Tsim Sha Tsui, with the 3-storey coworking space now offering more than 75,000 sq ft of workspace.

In February 2021, IWG announced the opening of a 50,000 sq ft Signature outlet in WeWork’s former branch at The Quayside. This followed the December 2020 entry into Gateway and the June 2020 takeover of a 30,000 sq ft in Causeway Bay’s Hysan Place tower.

At present, IWG now operates a total of 3 Signature outlets and 6 Spaces branches across Hong Kong, in addition to 10 flexible office space under Regus. In comparison, WeWork only has 7 centres in the city, down from 15 listed in November 2019.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has also impacted the coworking industry, IWG on Tuesday released internal data (average user device connected to WiFi) that shows the usage of its flexible offices across the city has recovered.

The company said that usage increased 20 percent quarter-on-quarter in Q2 2021 and a further 34 percent growth was seen during the third quarter. September’s usage was especially strong with an 82 percent hike compared to the figure recorded in August, suggesting that staff are eager to return to their workplaces, noted IWG.