Brave Ideas How A PropCo-OpCo JV Is Repurposing A 19th Century Building For Space-as-a-Service
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BE’s Jonathan Weinbrenn Talks Alignment In Belfast
Summary: Jonathan Weinbrenn, managing director of BE.Spoke, a BE Offices company, joins Bold founder Caleb Parker for Episode 6 of Season 8 to discuss a PropCo/OpCo joint venture partnership BE has signed with Straidorn Properties to repurpose Custome House, a 58,000 SqFt iconic building dating back to 1857 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and relaunch it with a Space-as-a-Service led strategy.
See Custom House website here:
https://www.beoffices.com/servicedoffice-locations/rest-of-uk/belfast
Jonathan previously featured as a guest in Season 2 where he spoke with Caleb about the impact the pandemic would have on Space-as-a-Service.
Jonathan believes the future of real estate lies in hospitality, technology and wellbeing.
In this episode they discuss the creation and management of the new flexible workspace at the iconic Custom House in Belfast. Jonathan shares his attraction to Belfast and their exciting plans for the WELL-certified space. Caleb and Jonathan also talk about the importance of hospitality for real estate and what it means for the future of flexible workspaces.
Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn
Connect with Caleb on LinkedIn
If you have any questions or feedback on this episode, email podcast@workbold.co
Value Bombs:
It's been a really difficult period for many of us, and to see activity and deals happening in the market, and customers flooding to this segment is really encouraging - Jonathan
Before we ever engage in a partnership, we want to make sure that we like each other first as that's the most important thing - Caleb
Flex gives you the ability to capture a wide segment of the market and deliver tailored solutions - Jonathan
For us service is at the heart of everything we do, and it's really important that we get this across when we show our spaces to people because you can't quantify that until you're a customer of a space - Jonathan
It's interesting to see the flight to quality in markets, which is an overused term, but one I'm afraid that is fairly accurate, where occupiers are much more sophisticated and more demanding about placing their staff in environments that are safe and where wellbeing is at the very centre - Jonathan
We have to embrace what customers want today, that's how we de-risk things and that's how we can drive value - Jonathan
Timestamps:
[6:11] BE.Spoke just signed a joint venture partnership with Straighthorn Properties to create and manage its new flexible workspace offering in Belfast, when do you open?
[7:45] What makes Belfast so attractive to you?
[8:50] Is it one hundred percent flex or will there be a traditional lease footprint in the building?
[12:58] Can you tell everybody about the BE.Spoke portfolio and the hospitality you have to offer?
[15:33] From what I understand, you’re going to deliver Northern Ireland’s first WELL-certified building?
[17:51] Did the WELL certification take up a big percentage of your budget? How are you guys managing that?
[20:22] How are you approaching the valuation topic? What are the lenders saying about this?
[21:50] Danske bank led the funding for this, can you talk about what they saw in it?
[23:36] Is this the first management agreement BE.Spoke has done?
[25:03] Can you elaborate on what Neil thought alignment with the propco looked like?
[28:14] Looking at this building and beyond, what does success look like? What’s the plan?
[31:22] When creating a portfolio, do you think a sustainable approach would be partnering with the same capital partner, launching a number of assets together then exiting those assets once they’re stable?
[35:53] What conferences or face to face events are you going to be attending between now and the end of the year?
Resources:
European Coworking Congress Event
Flexible space association conference
Shoutouts:
About Jonathan Weinbrenn:
Jonathan is the managing director at BE.Spoke, a BE Offices company. He has nearly two decades of experience in the flex world and has spent his career advising companies on how their workspace can support the achievement of their business goals.
Jonathan believes that real estate is not just about bricks and mortar, but rather its future lies in hospitality, technology and wellbeing.
Connect with Jonathan on Twitter
Sponsors:
Headline Sponsor: TSK
TSK creates inspiring workplaces for some of the world’s biggest brands across the UK and Ireland. They've been working for 25 years to deliver the best employee experiences and the vision of their clients. Not only do they create great places to work, TSK share workplace content every week from the latest data to inspiring spaces they’ve designed and built. You can read their latest insights at www.tskgroup.co.uk or check out their LinkedIn and Instagram pages to become a follower, fan and friend.
TSK publish weekly thought leadership, research and content featuring their team, clients and partners about workplace, commercial interiors, hybrid working and how others have prospered from investing in workplace. You can check their latest publications and video content in the show notes by signing up to their weekly ‘work made better’ newsletter or visit tskgroup.co.uk.
Fortune Favours the Bold
Bold merges property management & Space-as-a-Service to help office customers grow faster and drive asset value. Bold is a real estate brand owned and operated by NewFlex (www.workbold.co)
Future Proof Your Portfolio with NewFlex
NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com)
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