WeWork, the global shared workspace company, has signed more space at Browary Warszawskie. Its first members moved into the Biura przy Bramie building a few weeks ago, and the developer confirms now that it has rented more space at the next building of Browary Warszawskie – Biura przy Willi. With these parts combined, WeWork will create one of the largest shared workspaces in Poland, providing space for over 3,000 members, in Echo Investment’s project.

Flexible working flourishes in Browary Warszawskie

Currently, WeWork has opened 2 locations in Warsaw including Browary Warszawskie. - The inclusion of Browary Warszawskie in our portfolio in Poland confirms our commitment to this market. We have recently opened our first location in Browary Warszawskie and we are already looking forward to our next space in the new building, and welcoming more members to our community. This location of the city is not only central and easily accessible, but the building itself provides beautiful and modern architectural elements. We are excited to continue our expansion in Poland and we look forward growing our community here - says Mikhail Konoplev, General Manager, WeWork Central and Eastern Europe

The new WeWork space at 62 Grzybowska Street will occupy three floors and will comprise of private offices, hot desking, meeting rooms, common areas, telephone booths, kitchens and soft furnishing spaces. Additional amenities include wifi, fresh coffee, postal services and bike storage. The offices can be used around the clock, seven days a week. 

- We are very pleased that the quality of the systems we propose in office buildings convinced WeWork to start cooperation with us. I am sure that at the end of the construction of Browary Warszawskie, upon leaving the office, every member will appreciate the charm and city squares, courtyards as well as rest and recreation places available to everyone. We designed Browary Warszawskie so as to make it a place for efficient work as well as recreation, meetings and leisure. A peaceful enclave arises here, the new centre of Warsaw is just next door and everything has perfect transport links with our quarter  - says Michał Żelski, a regional sales manager in Echo Investment’s office department

Warsaw is a top city for flexible workspaces

Warsaw is developing more dynamically in comparison with other Polish cities and it increases its flexible working resources from one year to another. This is not surprising as this is a city of many business opportunities, full of creative people looking for space for development. Importantly, the capital is constantly modernising its transport facilities and the community has consistent goals and dreams. 

The demand for space suitable for working together has been growing with the increase in the number of freelancers and people who value freedom of action and comfort of work. This is confirmed by a report of Cushman & Wakefield. Warsaw is the leader when it comes to coworking opportunities. In 2018 the amount of modern office space exceeded 5.46 mln sqm, 77,400 sqm of which was the existing area while as many as 37,600 sqm of new offices were opened in 2018. 

- WeWork has certainly been changing the face of the office real estate market in Poland. In our opinion this is one of the most effectively carried out lease processes in recent times due to the vision and perfect organisation of the project by the WeWork team as well as the attitude of Echo Investment representatives who were focused on finding the best solutions. The variety of planned functions and amenities created in a place with a rich history as well as close proximity to international institutions and very good access to public transport are the key factors that influenced WeWork’s decision to choose Browary Warszawskie, a distinctive project located in the heart of Warsaw’s new financial centre in Wola district - says Richard Aboo, the head of office agency CEE, Poland and Mikołaj Niemczycki, the Coworking Clients Manager in the office space department at Cushman & Wakefield

According to the Cushman & Wakefield report, investors are still most interested in office buildings in central locations, which account for almost 60 pct of the total flexible workspaces, although operators more and more often take into account other locations e.g. Wola or Mokotów.