Industrious is grabbing an even bigger slice of Tower 49, bumping its footprint from about 240,000 square feet to roughly 292,000 square feet, or nearly half of the 600,000-square-foot office tower at 12 East 49th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The expansion tacks on two more floors to the coworking operator’s domain and carves out dedicated amenity levels, including a building-wide lounge on the 24th floor with showers and a parenting suite. Owner Kato International and Industrious say the work is part of a larger redevelopment of the former WeWork headquarters that is expected to wrap by the end of the year.
What’s being added
The 52,000-square-foot boost takes Industrious’s presence at Tower 49 from 16 floors to 18, with the new space geared toward beefing up conference, convention and amenity options. The two additional floors will be focused largely on shared amenities, while the 24th floor is slated to turn into a social lounge for the entire building, complete with showers, a parenting suite and event space, according to Commercial Observer. Financial terms of the expansion have not been disclosed.
From WeWork to a flagship
Industrious inked a 10-year management agreement in 2024 to run roughly 240,000 square feet at Tower 49 after WeWork exited its longtime corporate headquarters there. "At Tower 49, we’re showing what can happen when an owner and operator are aligned on fully reinvesting in a Midtown office experience," Industrious president Gentry Long said in a statement, as reported by The Real Deal. The company bills the property as its Midtown flagship, using it to pilot larger-format workspaces and hospitality-style services.
CBRE’s role and valuation
CBRE’s backing helped clear the way for this latest expansion. The real estate giant acquired the remaining stake in Industrious in January 2025 in a deal that implied an enterprise valuation near $800 million. CBRE had already been in the mix through equity and a $100 million convertible note and said the full takeover would support the creation of a new Building Operations & Experience segment, per a CBRE press release. The arrangement highlights why some landlords now lean toward management agreements with operators instead of traditional leases when trying to revive large, underused floorplates.
What this means for Midtown
Transforming a huge former WeWork block into an Industrious flagship reinforces a broader shift in Midtown, where owners are retooling oversized office footprints for hybrid and enterprise users. Industry coverage notes that Industrious tends to favor management agreements and revenue-sharing structures that let owners and operators experiment with programming, multipurpose meeting and convention space, and upgraded hospitality on-site, strategies outlined by CoStar. If Tower 49’s large-format, amenity-heavy model delivers, other Midtown landlords could be tempted to roll out similar conversions.
Timeline and availability
Kato and Industrious say the broader Tower 49 redevelopment is slated to be finished by the end of 2026, with the new Industrious floors coming online as part of that program, according to The Real Deal. Leasing and member services for "Tower 49 by Industrious" are already being marketed on the building’s website and Industrious’ location pages, which promote meeting rooms, private suites and on-demand office space at 12 East 49th Street. Companies tracking Midtown’s recovery will be watching this flagship closely to see whether the supersized coworking play lures long-term enterprise commitments.
