The Office Group's Blackstone-Backed Expansion Is Taking It To America
The Office Group, the flexible-office company majority owned by Blackstone, is eyeing its first overseas location, having grown rapidly under its new ownership structure.
It is one of several companies vying to lease space in the famous Flatiron Building in New York, according to the Financial Times. It is looking to lease the entire 180K SF building and is competing against WeWork, the FT said.
Blackstone bought a majority share in The Office Group in June 2017 in a deal that valued the company at £500M. It was set up in 2003 by Olly Olsen and Charlie Green.
At the time of the Blackstone acquisition it had 36 offices in the U.K., mainly in London, and occupied 888K SF, but it has since expanded to 39 locations and 1.3M SF, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield. That figure includes centres that are committed but not yet open.
Taking the brand overseas was seen as one of the obvious ways for Blackstone to increase the value of the company.
The Flatiron Building is owned by Italian investor Sorgente, and it will become vacant when McMillan Publishing moves out next year.
It was built in 1902 and at 22 stories was one of New York's first skyscrapers.
