Trends and Opportunities in Coworking with Jonathan Wasserstrum, SquareFoot

Data Driven Real Estate Podcast
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Jonathan Wasserstrum began his career in commercial real estate as part of the International Capital Group at industry leader Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), where he advised foreign and domestic clients on more than $3B worth of transactions globally. He attended Columbia Business School, where he earned his degree in May 2012. He also has a BA in Economics from Emory University.

He founded SquareFoot in 2011, and the platform now features more than 300,000 office listings, with 5,000 new listings posted monthly. The company has executed over 1,300 leases to date. SquareFoot is headquartered in New York City, where it does a majority of its business, and also serves 30 other national big-city markets. The company raised $16M in 2019 in a Series-B financing round led by DRW VC, with Triangle Peak Partners, RRE, Rosecliff, and senior real estate executives. SquareFoot has raised $29M in total since its founding.

About SquareFoot
Founded in 2011, SquareFoot is a new kind of commercial real estate company that helps companies win at finding their next (and next) office, providing transparent access to inventory, brokerage services, and flexible space offerings. SquareFoot brings together technological innovation and human expertise to solve clients’ needs.

SquareFoot’s platform features over 300,000 office listings, with 5,000 new listings posted monthly. The company has executed over 1,300 leases to date. SquareFoot is headquartered in New York City, where it does a majority of its business, and also serves 30 other national big-city markets.

SquareFoot’s team of brokers are especially skilled at negotiating flexible leases on behalf of growing companies to accommodate their needs. Because SquareFoot brings vast experience negotiating on behalf of its clients and their unique challenges, it is poised to guide companies of all sizes that have less predictable growth patterns and, as a result, prefer more flexible workspace offerings.

To further accommodate all kinds of growing companies and their needs or preferences, SquareFoot acquired PivotDesk in February 2019. PivotDesk assists companies with renting out unused workspace in their offices to other businesses. Mere months later, in June, SquareFoot also unveiled a new offering called FLEX by SquareFoot to bring even more creative solutions to this traditional industry. FLEX gives growing companies the ability for the first time to choose the office space they want, with leasing terms they hope for, without breaking the bank to make it happen.

Funding

SquareFoot raised $16 million in 2019 in a Series B financing round led by DRW VC, with Triangle Peak Partners, RRE, Rosecliff, and senior real estate executives. SquareFoot has raised $29 million in total since its founding.

About the founder

SquareFoot Founder/CEO Jonathan Wasserstrum began his career in commercial real estate as part of the International Capital Group at industry leader Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), where he advised foreign and domestic clients on more than $3 billion worth of transactions globally. He attended Columbia Business School, where he earned his degree in May 2012. He also has a BA in Economics from Emory University.

Outside of work, Jonathan is interested in the three B’s – bourbon, buffalo wings, and brass bands. He lives with his wife in Manhattan.

Main Topics/Questions:

  • Journey from business school into commercial real estate
  • What is SquareFoot
  • What is Coworking
  • How has the industry progressed and what different kinds of coworking space are there?
  • What was happening in coworking space pre-Covid
  • Has Covid impacted the coworking industry
  • Urban vs suburban coworking
  • Top opportunities for investor potentially looking at coworking space
  • What are the features consumers are demanding?
  • Any opportunities in hospitality and retail spaces being transformed?
  • With such a history in coworking, can you share insights in how you’ve made remote work for you and advice you would give companies as they venture into coworking and remote teams

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