Coworking startup work well win has been working for months to convert a former Motorola plant building in East Austin into a modern, wellness-focused office space for corporate satellite offices and emerging startups.
It still has a few months to go before opening later this year. But, in the meantime, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based coworking company spotted another opportunity in Austin.
It has opened a new, 14,000-square-foot space at 5323 Levander Loop, near Cesar Chavez and U.S. 183, that formerly housed Journey Co-Working. The offices are about 2.5 miles away from the forthcoming flagship work well win coworking location.
Frank Bistrian, founder and CEO of work well win, said the opportunity at Journey's space was brokered through J9 Partners Founder Johnny Kelly, who manages work well win's Austin operations and worked with Bistrian on the flagship, 100,000-square-foot location in Austin's Eightfold development.
"Rather than trying to plan for office space sizes as companies grow, work well win gives Austin entrepreneurs and businesses a wellness oriented one-stop-shop workplace," Bistrian, a former real estate leader for WeWork, told me in an email. "Individual Austin professionals and smaller professional companies can start out in our Levander Loop location and seamlessly move down the street into our much larger Eightfold location when they grow. Levander Loop is the ideal option for smaller groups and individual professionals, where as Eightfold will attract larger professional groups, particularly corporate satellite offices looking to put a stake in the ground in Austin."
The coworking company has raised $22 million from five individual investors so far. It differentiates from its peers by focusing on wellness, which includes on-site meditation space, healthy snacks and regular visits from health and diet coaches. The spaces also cater to people who want a little more space and less noise than many other coworking spots.
The startup is operating in a highly competitive category, with companies like WeWork aggressively opening new locations nationwide. But work well win is also being aggressive. It plans to open 90 locations over the next five years, including spaces in Greenwich, New York City, Brooklyn, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Venice Beach and Santa Monica this year.
The coworking company made one of its first big splashes in Austin as part of a massive plan to renovate and re-populate the former Motorola campus. Aside from coworking, developers plan to create walking paths along a creek that runs through the 109-acre campus.
When complete, the Eightfold development is expected to house startup offices, media studios, hotels, a gourmet grocer, retail shops and affordable housing has already begun. It's drawing comparisons to the early days of the Domain in North Austin, although it seeks to draw on East Austin's character and have a significantly different vibe.
"Austin has such a strong entrepreneurial and welcoming community, and we're thrilled to already have the opportunity to become a part of it," Bistrian wrote. "We see work well win becoming one of the centers of Austin's entrepreneurial and professional scene."
