WeWork partners with DC government on return-to-work initiative

An announcement out of the District today is for all of those who are ready to put on pants and leave the house for work.

With more COVID-19 vaccines getting into arms, coworking provider WeWork and D.C. government are partnering on a new initiative aimed at helping businesses and professionals returning to in-person work settings.

“COVID fundamentally shifted the idea of the office, demanding that organizations large and small think differently about their approach to their real estate footprint,” Erroll Williams, VP of WeWork’s Atlantic region, said Wednesday at the District’s economic development-focused March Madness event. “Now more than ever, organizations are hoping to adjust quickly to the new normal and we hope WeWork can provide a turnkey solutions so that organizations can scale as their workforce evolves.”

Financial details of the partnership — dubbed WeWork x D.C. — were not disclosed, but businesses relocating, returning or expanding to D.C. will have access to the following:

• A one-month trial, plus 15% off after the trial per month for up to 12 months, of WeWork All Access, which is the company’s subscription-based offering that allows users to work at any location
• WeWork private office space, with discounts including two months off of a six-month commitment, or three months off of a 12-month commitment

The initiative will also aim to bring together government leaders, economic development stakeholders and company officials as businesses and professionals are seeking “guidance, safety practices, and flexibility,” WeWork states. For its part, WeWork started making reopening plans in spring of 2020.

“These types of partnerships are going to help D.C. come back strong in 2021 and beyond,” Bowser said in a statement. “Throughout this pandemic, our businesses and workers have shown a tremendous amount of resilience and creativity in finding ways to pivot their services and operations. Now, in WeWork, we have another partner in those efforts and another way to think about safely returning to work.”

As another part of the partnership, WeWork partnered with Georgetown University to offer WeWork All Access memberships to its 19,000 students for study and workspace. WeWork said 5,500 Georgetown students have signed up so far.

The partnership shows WeWork is seeking to play a role in the reopening of D.C. widely, even as it seeks to attract members for its spaces. The 11-year-old company itself is among the businesses that will have a different local footprint following the pandemic, as it has shut down at least seven locations in the area, per the recent DC Development Report. That mirrors local contraction of coworking as a whole.

For the WeWork x D.C. initiative, 11 locations are participating around the metro area, including eight in D.C., the University of Maryland and Virginia locations in Tysons and Arlington.