Industrious Inks 2 Deals For New Boston-Area Coworking Spaces
Coworking provider Industrious has signed deals for two locations in the Boston area, its first expansion in the market since before the pandemic.
Industrious is partnering with Oxford Properties to open a 26K SF space at 225 Franklin St. in downtown Boston, the operator announced Wednesday.
The space is expected to open in June on the 26th floor of the office tower, which sits across the street from Post Office Square. The building's amenities include a golf simulator, conference center, bike room, showers and lockers. Its retail space is occupied by salad chain Sweetgreen, fitness center brand Equinox and an Intelligentsia coffee shop.
Industrious also signed a deal with WS Development to open a 35K SF space at the Legacy Place mixed-use complex in Dedham. That space is expected to open in August.
The Dedham location, about 11 miles from Downtown Boston, will be Industrious' first space in the Boston suburbs. Industrious has four operating locations in Boston in the Seaport, Financial District, Back Bay and Copley areas.
“This is a very exciting expansion for Industrious as we’ve been in Boston for several years and have been looking for the right opportunity to expand to the broader area outside of the city," Industrious Senior Director of Real Estate Peri Demestihas said in a release. "Being able to open in such a successful and established development as Legacy Place is exactly that."
These deals, like many of Industrious' spaces, are structured as management agreements with the property owners. That structure, which comes with less risk for the operator than the lease model that coworking forerunners WeWork and Regus traditionally pursued, allowed Industrious to avoid the mass closures that plagued other coworking operators during the pandemic.
Industrious began taking over closed coworking spaces from its competitors during the pandemic, with a source telling Bisnow in February 2021 it planned to take over 1M SF of closed spaces over the subsequent 12 months. Also in February 2021, Industrious received a $200M investment from CBRE for a 35% stake in the company.
