How Convene Combines Hospitality And Flexible Office In Today’s Hybrid Work Environment
When Ryan Simonetti, CEO and co-founder of Convene, a global hospitality company providing premium meeting, events and flexible office experiences, had an idea back in 2009 to run an office building like a full-service hotel, he couldn't fathom that 15 years later a global pandemic and a struggling office environment would be the keys to drive this concept home.
The pandemic brought a tectonic shift in the way tenants consume office space and started the trend for more amenitized, flexible workplaces. The demand for this offering is continuing to surge, as flexible office space is projected to comprise 10% of a company’s real estate portfolio by 2026.
“The barrier to bring employees back to work has never been higher,” said Brian Holland, Convene's head of real estate. “It's not just about having a great physical product, but about delivering an experience.”
This hospitality-driven approach is what separates Convene from other companies in this space, Holland said. Many of Convene’s employees come from leading hotel brands such as Waldorf Astoria, The Ritz-Carlton and InterContinental Hotels Group.
Convene’s business has grown substantially coming out of the pandemic. Last year, the company acquired London-based etc.venues, a company that provides select-service meeting and event spaces in the U.S. and UK, which added 16 locations in London and three in the U.S., Holland said.
“Increasingly, our clients are wanting to co-locate with Convene, and making real estate decisions based on whether we’re in the building,” he said.
Earlier this year, Convene opened its largest London location at Sancroft, St. Paul’s in Paternoster Square, under a lease with Greycoat and Mitsui Fudosan. Holland said this project came at the right time for Convene because white-shoe law firm Goodwin Procter was looking to relocate its European headquarters, and ultimately selected the building in large part because of Convene.
Today, Convene’s meeting and events business contributes 80% of its revenue, while the remainder comes from its flexible workplace and amenity management offerings.
The company has plans to replicate this success with a new experiential event venue it recently acquired at 30 Hudson Yards in Midtown Manhattan, Holland said. The 72K SF meeting and event facility will be the largest Convene location in New York City with a maximum capacity of just under 1,500 people.
“NYC continues to be a top-performing global destination for corporate events and the landlord has approached us for several years,” he said. “We've already seen a huge amount of traction in pre-sales for next year, which is very encouraging and helps validate our thesis.”
While Convene has 2.5M SF throughout the U.S. and UK, it's not stopping anytime soon. Not only does the company want to expand in Europe, it plans to launch fully branded office buildings within the next couple of years, Holland said.
“Think of Convene the same way you’d think of a hotel company,” Holland said. “We want to be the ‘flag’ at the top of the building, which represents a certain brand experience. Instead of outsourcing tasks, we're looking to the future where all the front-of-house hospitality functions — including food and beverage, concierge, flex office, meeting spaces and amenities — are provided by Convene.”
This article was produced in collaboration between Convene and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.
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