WeWork’s New Normal: Trying To Fill The Huge Spaces From Its Pre-IPO Leasing Binge

As WeWork tries to right its ship following its disastrous IPO attempt, it is opening several large, new spaces in the D.C. market that will add hundreds of thousands of square feet to its portfolio. As it attempts to fill those spaces, it will do so with a radically different corporate outlook: The company is laying off 2,400 employees, has a new chairman and co-CEOs and is grappling with mounting losses: $1.25B in the third quarter alone.   WeWork has signed eight new D.C.-area leases totaling over 550K SF in the last year, and several of them are set to open in the coming months. The spaces will bring its D.C.-area portfolio to 22 locations totaling over 1.7M SF of coworking space, according to CBRE. The openings will require WeWork to capture a significant share of the office demand in a D.C. market that has experienced rising vacancy.