Hines Jumps Into Coworking Game

Office giant Hines has launched a platform called Hines Squared, which will offer coworking spaces the company has dubbed The Square. Houston-based Hines has tapped Industrious, a New York-based flexible workspace specialist, to operate most of the coworking spaces, and hired New York-based Convene to operate The Square sites, including full-service meeting and event management.

Hines is the latest traditional landlord to respond to the popularity of WeWork and its competitors by offering nontraditional lease structures in a coworking environment offering amenities considered appealing to millennials. Other office owners to jump into the game recently include Tishman Speyer and Blackstone.

The concept arose from Hines' realization that its customers needed something different to the long-term leases that landlords traditionally offer, Hines Innovation Officer Charlie Kuntz told Bloomberg.

Like other flexible workspace providers, Hines will thus be able to offer tenants at The Square more or less space as they need it, rather than locking them into a standard lease.

The Square locations will be developed within Hines properties. Besides coworking and flexible office options, they will offer food and beverage services, collaborative zones and participation in community programming. Some locations will offer meeting and event services.

The first two The Square locations will be open by the end of 2019 at two Hines properties, 717 Texas in Downtown Houston and the Kearns Building in Salt Lake City. 

Later, the concept will be launched in Atlanta, Boston, Denver, New York and San Francisco, though Hines hasn't specified a precise timetable for the rollout in those markets. The company is also eyeing locations outside of North America.