Oakland-based property developer Harvest Properties has hit the brakes on a deal with WeWork for a massive amount of office space in downtown San Jose after the coworking company’s IPO plans fell through.
“WeWork has got to rework its whole position in the marketplace,” said Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR Realty which has WeWork as a tenant. “Because if they don’t, landlords aren’t going to be comfortable doing deals with them.”
WeWork has grown from 107 locations in 2017 to 904 today — an unprecedented and eye-catching pace of growth. Still, the company has yet to make a profit despite its continuous expansion across the world.
Now, as WeWork continues to grab headlines due to details revealed in its now withdrawn S-1 filing, the public and potential investors are shifting their gaze unto competitors such as IWG, Knotel and Industrious.
IWG in particular has been around much longer than WeWork and has actually maintained a profitable business model.
In the meantime, WeWork’s hiring activity has dropped by over 14% after a previous quarter rise of 29%.