WeWork will shut eight floors of co-working space in Causeway Bay, shrinking its Hong Kong footprint by half as social distancing, work-from-home arrangements crimp demand
- WeWork will give up 90,000 square feet of space over eight floors at Tower 535 at Jaffe Road in Causeway Bay, according to people familiar with the matter
- The company may incur a penalty for breaking its lease, which ends in 2025, people said
The company will abandon 90,000 square feet (8,361 square metres) of space across eight floors at Tower 535 in Causeway Bay, reducing its portfolio in Hong Kong by 56 per cent to 360,000 square feet, according to people familiar with the matter. WeWork, which chose Tower 535 as its very first Hong Kong location in 2016, may incur a penalty as its termination is a breach of its tenancy agreement until 2025 with its landlord Phoenix Property Investors, the people said.
A person who answered the phone at WeWork’s office space in Kwun Tong confirmed that the Tower 535 office will close effective April 1, declining to elaborate. The company and Phoenix Property did not immediately respond to queries by South China Morning Post.
WeWork operated co-working space from the 11th to the 20th floor at Tower 535 on Jaffe Road in Causeway Bay, a short walk from Hong Kong’s Victoria Park. During a visit to the 11th and 20th floors, workers were seen clearing cables, removing furniture and the coffee machine from the space.
At its peak in 2019, WeWork operated 830,000 square feet of co-working space in Hong Kong. The city’s market for flexible space was booming between 2016 and 2018, when scores of landlords refurbished and converted their commercial buildings into open working space with amenities to serve demand in the world’s most expensive city.