Verizon is testing the waters of coworking.
The telecom giant, which owns a surprisingly large amount real estate around the city, is partnering with the coworking company
to open a new space across from One World Trade Center — and more may be coming.
"We've never done anything like this with our portfolio before," John Vazquez, Verizon's senior vice president for Global Real Estate, said in a statement. "The New York City tech sector is one of the most vibrant in the world and we're very excited to have some of its most creative entrepreneurs innovating under our own roof starting this week."
The new space, which was designed by the architecture and design firm Gensler, will hold around 120 people per day, and features your normal coworking space amenities — think an open workspace, team rooms, conference rooms and meeting spaces.
What makes the space interesting, however, is that it's located on the second floor of 140 West Street, which used to serve as Verizon’s headquarters. The building was heavily damaged on 9/11, and Verizon sold off the top 21 floors for $274 million in 2013. They officially moved their headquarters to a smaller space in Midtown in 2014, and the top floors were converted into condos.
Verizon is in an interesting position as it owns telephone exchanges and office space around the city. But, as demand for the company's landline service dwindles, it's relying on a smaller workforce.
The company had been on something of a selling spree, and The New York Times reported in 2014 that Verizon had made over a billion dollars in recent property sales. But it looks like the company may want to hold onto some of their prime real estate, and their partnership with Grind could be a part of that strategy.
Verizon said they hope to continue partnering with Grind to open other locations around the city, and are particularly honing in on Brooklyn and Long Island City.
If you want to check out the new space, it's open and free to the public all this week.
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