American co-working space and private office provider Industrious officially announced its Canadian expansion on Tuesday, with plans to open its first flexible workspace north of the border in Toronto.
“This new location allows us to plant our first flag in Toronto, one of the top performing office markets in all of North America, and a market our existing network of enterprise members has been asking us to expand into for years," said Director of Real Estate at Industrious Sam Segal.
The Industrious location will takeover the former WeWork space inside of 33 Bloor Street East in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood. Not only is the location steps away from Yonge Street, but the Bloor Street tower also has direct access to the Yonge/Bloor subway station.
"The building is right in the heart of a highly amenitized, mixed-use area comprising significant retail and residential development, with direct connectivity to Toronto's subway system," Segal said. "We’re confident this location will provide an accessible and amenity rich experience for our members.”
The new location will be dubbed Industrious Yonge & Bloor and will offer more than 450 seats across a whopping 36,000 sq. ft of office space. Similar to other co-working spaces, Industrious locations typically feature rentable office spaces for both individuals and teams, as well as shared common areas like meetings rooms and phone booths.
And Industrious is wasting no time with their Canadian expansion, setting the opening date for September of this year.
“Although we had interest from several providers, Industrious’ operating track record was best suited to provide quality flexible workspace that will be beneficial for the market and for our existing tenants," John Shields, vice president of leasing at Epic Investment Services, the developer behind 33 Bloor Street East.
Industrious currently operates more than 100 locations across the U.S. and the U.K., and recently acquired two workspace providers in Asia and Europe, adding over 350,000 sq. ft to its portfolio. According to a release, the company is aiming to double its international presence by the end of the year through a mix of takeovers and organic growth.
