Last Night with the Mayor and WeWork

Coworking king WeWork unveiled its shiny new Wonder Bread Factory space in Shaw last night, and the bash included a visit—and big money pledge—from Mayor Gray. (Tech companies need to watch out for viruses and moldy bread.)

We snapped WeWork co-founders Miguel McKelvey and Adam Neumann flanking Hizzoner, who stopped by the party to launch Digital DC, the city's new initiative aimed at growing the District's burgeoning tech scene. And the mayor came bearing gifts, or capital, at least: He announced the city will raise $1M toward a venture fund for Digital DC, which will go to firms that locate within a designated "tech corridor" between 7th Street and New York Avenue and Georgia and Kansas Avenues. Adam also confirmed previous reports that WeWork, already open in Chinatown in addition to the Wonder Bread location, will open a space soon in Dupont Circle at Vornado's 1875 Connecticut.

Before the big announcements, we found Wingate Hughes' Gavin Daniels with two guys who had a hand in WeWork's Wonder Bread buildout: Jason Wilt of Winmar (who handled construction) and Ghattas Hajjo of MCW, which provided IT. Ghattas tells us MCW has also handled installations for WeWork's spaces in San Francisco and NYC. Deputy Mayor Victor Hoskins, whose office will spearhead the new initiative, couldn't make the event, as he is in the Middle East on business, the mayor reported. 

Interested in learning more? We're proud to announce that Miguel, the co-founder of WeWork, will be headlining an event we'll be hosting in Crystal City on March 31, the "Creative Office Revolution!" More info here.