ST. LOUIS — Global coworking giant WeWork (NYSE: WE) has closed its location at the One Metropolitan Square tower, becoming the latest in a recent string of companies to shed downtown office space.
WeWork’s decision to shutter its coworking space at Met Square, located at 211 N. Broadway, also marks its exit from the St. Louis market. Its nearly 60,000-square-foot location at Met Square was its only coworking space locally. A spokesperson for WeWork confirmed the location closed, but did not immediately respond to a question about when operations ceased at Met Square.
For New York-based WeWork, the closure of its St. Louis location comes as the high-profile company continues to grapple with a sagging share price and operate with losses since going public in October 2021. In the first and second quarters of 2022, WeWork reported net losses of $504 million and $635 million, respectively. However, the company said its second-quarter revenue of $815 million was up 37% from a year ago, with memberships up 33% year over year in the quarter.
In recent years, WeWork has closed locations in several major cities, and the company spokesperson said the decision to exit the St. Louis market is part of its ongoing effort to rein in its expenses.
“As part of WeWork’s strategic business transformation, we began a comprehensive review of our full global real estate portfolio in late 2019. We have reduced annualized rent and tenancy expenses, working closely with our landlord partners. In line with these efforts, we have decided to close the WeWork location at One Metropolitan Square,” the spokesperson said in a statement provided to the Business Journal.
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