WeWork and Industrious bet big on coworking in Charlotte

WeWork, an international coworking giant, signed a lease for 46,000 square feet on the 8th and 9th floor of 615 South College Street (currently under construction). WeWork Stonewall Station hopes to have 960+ members. By my estimate, that’s more members than we currently have working at all coworking spaces in Charlotte combined right now.

At the same time, Industrious, a large national coworking player, signed a lease for 21,465 square feet on the 27th floor of the Bank of America Plaza building on Trade and Tryon.

These coworking spaces will have an elegant design, 24/7 access, lighting fast Internet, free fancy coffee, month to month leases and shared conference rooms/event space. You get the deal.

Both WeWork and Industrious hope to be open by this fall and are currently hiring:

• Community Manager at WeWork
• Associate Community Manger at WeWork
• Community Manager at Industrious

WeWork and Industrious each have two locations in Atlanta, so if demand meets expectations in Charlotte, I’d look for both coworking companies to evaluate a second location. South End, SouthPark and Ballantyne areas are all ripe for a coworking offering.

But how do our existing coworking spaces feel about it?

“Big coworking brands coming to Charlotte is inevitable and exciting,” said Garrett Tichy, owner of Hygge Coworking. “They’re in a different league than us and speak to a way different crowd. We need awareness around the concept of coworking and these bring brands come with marketing dollars.”

I completely agree with Garrett. Coworking is still a mystery to most of our city.

Existing players like Advent, Hygge Coworking and Industry Coworking stand to net benefit from an expanding coworking market. Lower prices, existing community and free parking set these guys apart.

For example, Hygge offers a dedicated desk for $250/month while WeWork’s dedicated desk pricing starts at $350/month. Hygge’s parking is free (on street) and WeWork’s location means that driving members will need to pay for Uptown parking.

On the other hand, WeWork and Industrious will directly compete with existing Uptown coworking spaces like Level and HQ Charlotte.

[Agenda Story: Complete list, pricing and map of Charlotte’s 10 coworking spaces]

Using WeWork Atlanta’s locations as a comp, here’s what Charlotte pricing may look like:

• Hot Desk (not reserved): $220/month
• Dedicated Desk: $350/month
• 1 Person Private Office: $500/month
• 2 Person Private Office: $960-$1,200/month
• 4 Person Private Office: $1,500-$1,900/month
• 6 PersonPrivate Office: $2,500/month
• 8 Person Private Office: $3,150/month

Using Industrious Raleigh as a comp, here’s what Charlotte pricing may look like:

• Desk: starts at $315/mont
• 1 Person Private Office: $509+/month
• 2 Person Private Office: $900+/month
• 3 Person Private Office $1,265+/month
• 4 Person Private Office: $1,715+/month

Photos via WeWork.com