It’s official: WeWork has opened in Boston.
Word first got out that New York City’s collaborative community company WeWork had its eye on the city a few months ago. The startup’s Boston team cut the proverbial red ribbon on its two Boston-based buildings – one at 745 Atlantic Avenue across from South Station, the other, at 51 Melcher Street in Fort Point on Superbowl Sunday; over the course of the last week, the Boston team has been busy ushering innovators into the artfully crafted space to get settled.
In the past few months, a desperate cry for affordable workspace has broken out among the city’s creative classes. Rents in Kendall Square and along the Red Line are too high, and with more and more businesses moving into Downtown and Innovation District, real estate is quickly becoming rare. Sure, Somerville and the suburbs are viable options, but often entrepreneurs don’t want to part with the vibrant tech ecosystem and access to investors.
"We knew Boston was one of the first places we needed to get too," shared WeWork Director of Marketing Ben Kessler. "There’s so much excitement and development and passion here. We’re really excited to get to be a part of that, from the ground up."
WeWork will be instrumental in providing the solution of affordable workspace in Boston. Desks start at $400, and there are currently 1,000 available, with that number due to more than double in the coming months.
As an entrepreneur pours his heart and soul into expanding the startup, so the WeWork team commits their energies into forging each building’s community.
“We’re very much into making every space unique and being respectful of predisposition of the building to bring in aspects of the neighborhood,” WeWork Creative Director Devin Vermeulen told BostInno. “Boston” is blended into the South Station building by way of a city-inspired mural – Paul Revere, a bug-eyed Boston terrier, a tallship branded with the MBTA insignia (homage to the T party, perhaps) and other iconic trademarks meld into a melange in purple, gold and black, hand-painted by local artist Wesley Eggebrecht.
But perhaps the standout city flair is realized in the Melcher Street building’s basement “sports bar.” Reclaimed gym floorboards in Celtics green and gold run floor to ceiling, while four wide-screen TVs line the walls, practically begging to be flipped to ESPN. A foosball and arcade games sit in opposing corners.
And what’s a bar without beer? A freshly-tapped keg of beer from Lost Tribes, a burgeoning Brooklyn brewery awaits to be poured come 5 p.m. – hey, or earlier – in all communal kitchen areas. (The free brews also fuel another WeWork perk – the multitudes of member-founded meetups and WeWork events, ideal for networking.) Members can pour themselves a brew and kick back on the plush couches and chairs that pepper common areas – a comfortable alternative to their offices.
The all-glass workspaces come in multiple sizes to fit the needs of companies at every stage of the startup lifecycle. The South Station buildings offers one of WeWork’s recently piloted communal workspaces dubbed WeWork Labs, designed to fit the needs of early stage tech startups. Individuals can reserve space at a workbench beside likeminded others in the open-air. Private one-person offices are also available, as are spaces big enough to teams of around 20. Need an even larger room for a client or board meeting? WeWork has those too, reservable via each member’s monthly credits.
In addition to office and meeting space, WeWork members in Boston will get a slew of other benefits, including affordable healthcare plans, credit card processing and Zipcar access, as well as traditional office tools like copiers and scanners.
But its not just access to a fully furnished workspace a member gets; it’s access to WeWork buildings in seven cities across the country, and soon, globally.
“We make a huge effort at creating connections everywhere,” WeWork Boston lead Hunter Perry told BostInno. “More than just our space being absolutely beautiful, WeWork has the ability to connect with a larger community, not only nationally but internationally, looking for other companies who are hoping to expand out of Boston.”
The buildings’ most valuable characteristics are intangible: Community, along with the connections and currency of ideas it transpires. Not to mention its driving forces: a friendly management staff that has members’ backs, for everything from introductions to broken printers to brainstorming.
As I left my tour of WeWork’s South Station spot, I couldn’t help but notice the building’s matching T-shirt-clad community managers chatting and laughing, gathered around yet another unique piece of furniture: a swingset-meets-table hybrid, as much about work as it is about play. And so is WeWork.
