Coworking Provider Industrious Charting Rapid D.C.-Area Expansion
Industrious has just signed a deal for its second D.C. location, and its CEO says it has plans to expand rapidly in the region.
The New York-based coworking provider opened a space on D.C.'s Thomas Circlelast month and just signed another lease in Bethesda, but CEO Jamie Hodarisaid that is just the beginning. He expects Industrious to have five D.C. locations by the end of this winter, and eight locations by the end of 2019.
"It's probably one of the most vibrant, exciting markets for the workplace service industry, it just took us a while to find the right locations and the right deals," Hodari said. "We are looking to continue growing relatively rapidly both in D.C. and the surrounding environment."
Industrious inked a 13-year lease with JBG Smith to occupy the fifth floor, roughly 28K SF, at 7200 Wisconsin Ave. in Bethesda, the landlord announced Tuesday. CBRE's Brad Wilner represented Industrious in the deal.
"We love the dynamic of Bethesda, we love the customer base and we think it's an underserved market for workplace as a service," Hodari said. "We think it's going to be particularly powerful when its paired with a broader D.C. network."
The Bethesda deal comes after Industrious in April celebrated the opening of its first D.C. coworking location, a 21K SF space on the seventh floor of One Thomas Circle. Hodari said it wanted to open in a neighborhood with a large residential base rather than an office-dominated area.
"I think most people's ideal is to work somewhere where there's also a healthy after-work and residential scene," Hodari said. "That's the reason we love Thomas Circle, it's exactly at the intersection of what we would consider still part of the office part of the city, but you're a very short walk from everything on 14th Street."
Industrious, founded in 2013 by Hodari and Justin Stewart, closed an $80M Series C funding round in February and signaled a massive expansion. The company currently has 35 locations and says it aims to double that footprint by the end of 2018.
JBG Smith Executive Vice President Dave Ritchey said he has toured Industrious spaces in multiple markets and saw the high-end coworking provider as a good fit for the Bethesda property.
"We liked what we saw in terms of the overall experience, but really specifically the quality of the materials and the look and feel of the space," he said. "We thought it would be a really good match for Downtown Bethesda, which is largely a high-end professional services market."
The landlord recently completed a major renovation of 7200 Wisconsin, creating a new lobby, fitness center and exterior improvements. The 12-story, 275K SF property sits next to the new trophy office building JBG Smith is developing at 4747 Bethesda Ave., where it plans to move its own headquarters and has already signed three big leases. Ritchey said opening a coworking space will be beneficial for the property.
"We did feel like having Industrious in the building was accretive and speaks to an expanded amenity base for the building," Ritchey said. "We're focused on meeting our tenants' needs at every stage of their growth cycle, so we see coworking as an important part of that."
Hodari said Industrious has its eye on several D.C.-area submarkets for its future locations.
"We love our current location [in Thomas Circle], but we'd love to be even more downtown," Hodari said. "And we're really excited about some of the mixed-use residential neighborhoods north and east of where we are, and we're curious about trying to investigate the east-side area around Union Market."
