'Come To Your Higher Self': Adam Neumann Officially Launches Flow Apartment Brand

Adam Neumann finally pulled back the curtain on his foray into multifamily investment Thursday, with the former WeWork CEO launching Flow at two apartment buildings in South Florida.

In an interview with CNBC at Flow Fort Lauderdale, Neumann said Flow aims to help residents “come to your higher self.”

“Between yourself, your neighbor and the world, our mission is bringing everybody together,” he said. 

The interview coincided with Flow launching a website with apartment listings for its properties in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, nearly two years after Neumann announced the brand and a $350M investment from a16z, the venture capital firm run by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.

Flow or Neumann-controlled entities own seven properties with more than 3,000 apartments in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Atlanta and Nashville. But the brand’s launch is thus far limited to Flow Fort Lauderdale, the former Society Las Olas building that a Neumann-controlled entity acquired in 2022, and the 44-story Flow Miami, formerly the Caoba apartments in Downtown Miami that Neumann acquired in 2021. 

Neumann said during the CNBC interview that both of a16z’s leaders have seats on Flow’s board, which is helping Flow avoid financial issues and controversies that dogged WeWork during his tenure as CEO and ultimately led to his ouster after a failed initial public offering. 

“They both come to my board meetings and our boardroom is exciting,” he said. “For those of you who don’t know them, they speak their mind if you want them to or if you don’t.”

“Everyone is holding everyone more accountable,” Neumann added. 

Neumann’s plans to enter the apartment market were first revealed in August 2022, and he said Flow has used the last two years to build its platform, processes and staff to ensure a successful phased rollout of the brand. 

“Part of what is nice about doing a venture for the second time is you get to take the best things you did last time and do them again,” he told Business Insider in an interview on Thursday. “But you also get to take lessons and learn. One of [the lessons] is when you have a product you're really passionate about, it's a great thing to take your time and really perfect it.”

Flow has boosted net operating income at the Fort Lauderdale building by 40% since acquiring the property, Neumann told CNBC. Flow Miami, located in the 27-acre master-planned Miami Worldcenter, is 96% leased, and the firm is adding a 41-story tower to the property that is slated to deliver next year. 

Neumann's company also owns a parcel across the street from Flow Miami where he is exploring plans for a low-rise mixed-use building with retail and office space. 

Flow’s listings in Fort Lauderdale are priced from around $1,700 per month to $6,100, while its listings in Miami run from $2,254 per month to a $4,753 per month for a three-bedroom apartment. 

Neumann told CNBC that Flow had raised rents at both properties while increasing the number of tenants that renew their leases. 

“When people like being in a building, when they actually feel like they’re part of a community, they stay,” he said. “When people stay and there’s no churn in the building, it increases occupancy and it increases the value.”