Shared workspaces company WeWork is negotiating to rent seven floors in the new Suzuki Tower office building at 82 Yigal Allon Street in Tel Aviv, near the Toyota Tower, sources inform "Globes." The building, which is currently under construction, is scheduled for occupancy in the second quarter of next year. Partners in the tower include BSR Group, managed by Nachshon Kivity, and Automotive Equipment and Automobiles, the official importer for Suzuki in Israel, controlled by chairman Zvi Neta. The negotiations are with Automotive Equipment, led by co-CEO Shlomo Meir.
Each floor in the building has 1,300 square meters, so the total space that WeWork is seeking to rent is 9,100 square meters. The annual cost of the lease is estimated at NIS 9.5 million. Both companies declined to comment on the report.
WeWork's desire to rent space in Suzuki Tower could indicate that the company's management has spotted demand in the area. WeWork has 24,000 square meters in the ToHa Tower on Hashalom Road, not far from Suzuki Tower, plus a number of floors in the Midtown Tel Aviv Tower, located on Menachem Begin Street, near the Azrieli towers.
WeWork's expansion plans go even further. Extensive work is taking place to put into use a building rented by the company in Kiryat Arie industrial zone. This large building, which has been unoccupied for a long time, is located next to Road 4. It is scheduled to open for activity towards the end of 2020. Another of the company's workspaces due to open is in Sapir Tower in the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange area.
If WeWork's expansion plans are carried out, it will raise many eyebrows, given the global upheaval in the company. WeWork founder and CEO Adam Neumann was recently dismissed from his management role in the company at the urging of Japanese company Softbank, the largest investor in the company. Neumann received $1.7 billion in compensation.
Two weeks ago, WeWork began laying off thousands of employees around the world, with the shakeup also extending to Israel. The company announced that it had summoned 65 employees in its technological headquarters in Midtown Tower to pre-dismissal hearings.
A source explained to "Globes" that these employees were responsible for the company's technological development activity in Israel, and had nothing to do with WeWork's direct real estate activity in the country.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 1, 2019
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