Helical extends London Wework lease amid takeover talks
Property investment and development company Helical has extended its lease with Wework until June following a decision late last year to remove the struggling hybrid workplace provider after it could no longer pay its rent.
Helical has extended its London lease with Wework until June following a decision late last year to remove the struggling hybrid workplace provider after it could no longer pay its rent.
However last November, Helical, the property investment and development company, allowed Wework to re-enter its Bower building, because they entered into a short-term lease agreement with Wework and received a fee equivalent to the whole of the September quarter’s rent and service charge.
The London-listed business said today it signed a lease with Wework to 14 June 2024 outside the Landlord and Tenant Act at the “pre-existing rent on the third floor, to enable them to continue to meet their obligations to their customer Stripe”.
It comes as the troubled workspace provider has exited a number of sites in London after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US.
There are now just 30 co-working locations run by Wework in the capital, down from 35 available spaces at the start of the year after the company exited its Bishopsgate and Clerkenwell sites.
At its peak, the trendy workspace provider had 50 sites across London.
Wework founder and former chief Adam Nueman is thought to be trying to regain control of the business through a takeover via his real estate startup Flow.
Some of the space Wework previously had in the Bower building on Old Street, East London has been taken over by fellow coworking firm InfinitSpace.
InfinitSpace has signed five of the previous members of Wework, comprising around 90 desks and representing approximately half a floor of The Tower – its workspace offering within the building.
Helical said: “A marketing campaign to attract further members to the scheme has commenced which has generated a significant uptake in interest in the remaining space.”
“Following these initiatives, The Tower is 85 per cent let, up from 62 per cent following the forfeiture of the original Wework leases, with good interest being shown in the remaining space from existing and potential new tenants.”
Gerald Kaye, chief executive at Helical, said: “We continue to build on the momentum since our last update in January with new leases signed at The JJ Mack Building and The Bower at values above 31 March 2023 ERVs, with further space under offer, while rent collection for the year remains robust at 99 per cent.
Helical will publish its full year results on the 23rd May.
