WeWork secures new tenants, fills more space at 21 Collyer Quay, Suntec City post-bankruptcy
The co-working operator is upbeat about its prospects in Singapore and globally
[SINGAPORE] A year after emerging from bankruptcy, US co-working operator Wework is optimistic that it is in fit shape, now that it has eliminated debt and secured new tenants.
Speaking to The Business Times, WeWork’s regional president for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, the Middle-East and Africa and the Asia-Pacific, Luke Armstrong said: “Today we operate with no debt and we self-fund all our capital-improvement projects.”
The company said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) has turned positive, and that it has eliminated more than US$4 billion of debt. It has also set aside US$80 million to US$100 million to redesign WeWork outlets globally: It plans to rework office layouts to better attract small and medium-sized businesses and invest in technology solutions for its buildings.
In the first quarter, WeWork recorded a 23 per cent increase in desks sold across its 12 locations in Singapore, compared to Q1 2024. Occupancy stood at 77 per cent in June.
At its flagship property at 21 Collyer Quay – where it leases the entire 21-floor building – it recently signed on life-sciences giant Bayer for 5,000 sq ft of space across half a floor.
Another occupier, which WeWork declined to name, took up three floors, or 23,000 sq ft, from June, and this was in addition to the 29,000 sq ft of space it was already occupying at 21 Collyer Quay.
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Armstrong said: “We’ve got significant occupiers of scale in the building who are taking more space, so we’re building that out for them.”
At Suntec City, where WeWork leases three floors, a previously vacant floor 28,000 sq ft in size was fitted out last November. The floor is now occupied by multiple tenants; only about 6,500 sq ft was vacant as at June.
Armstrong said the Suntec location “has operated at close to 90 per cent for a really long time, and we had to build out the space because we couldn’t meet the demands of our growing members in that building”.
In November 2023, WeWork, billions in debt, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States after hefty losses.
Six months later, the company was cleared to exit bankruptcy after a restructuring that entailed amending leases, adopting new management agreements and negotiating building exits. It also appointed a new chief executive officer, John Santora, who had previously worked at real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield.
While WeWork exited dozens of locations in the United States, UK, Australia and other markets, Armstrong said there were no “unamicable or forced exits” in Singapore.
In late 2024, WeWork did not renew its leases for two prime co-working locations in Singapore after they expired. One of these spanned three floors in Manulife Tower on Cross Street; the other location ceased operations on three floors of space at 83 Clemenceau Avenue earlier this year.
When asked whether WeWork plans to expand beyond its 12 locations in Singapore, Armstrong said: “It’s highly likely there will be opportunities for us to grow in Singapore. And one of the challenges in Singapore, as you will know, is that it’s an incredibly tight market.
“It’s a supply-constrained market, (with) one of the lowest vacancy rates (globally). We’re looking for high-quality, Grade-A space to operate (in), but there aren’t huge amounts of that available in Singapore.”
He believes that prime office rents will continue to climb in the near term as supply remains limited.
“I think prime rents today are around S$11.50 for Grade-A space. There are very few buildings where you can get that kind of quality of space. You’re going to see rents continue to climb as a consequence of lack of supply, so that means vacancy rates will fall to even lower levels. Below 5 per cent is probably sustainable for a market like Singapore, just because of the success and quality of the occupiers there.”
Globally, market sentiment indicates that 80 per cent of firms are seeking to move around 20 per cent of their real estate portfolios to flexible leases, Armstrong said.
“I think we are seeing more and more of those conversations happen as a consequence of this kind of ongoing instability caused by the tariffs.
“Committing to long-term real estate on a traditional lease basis perhaps isn’t the thing you would do today.”
Broadly across the globe, WeWork is seeing its occupancy and revenues improve, Armstrong said.
“We concluded last year with revenues of US$2.2 billion, (and) that will improve this year.”
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