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A comprehensive 2020 guide to DC coworking spaces

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If you need a space to work, your options for coworking and flex office space offerings in D.C. are not lacking.

This year alone, the nation’s capital welcomed Two Birds, a coworking space for working class parents; Convene’s first coworking venture in the area; the return of prominent incubator and coworking network 1776 in Lafayette Square; and more.

Offering everything from hot desks to shared office to private meeting rooms, the District has more than 20 coworking spaces. The list below includes coworking companies’ locations, short descriptions with a shoutout to cool amenities at each space, and pricing (when that information was available).

As the local coworking outlook continues to expand, we’re still watching to see whether any of WeWork’s many D.C.-area locations will be affected by the coworking giant’s failed IPO, CEO ousting and layoffs this year. Despite the international shakeups, WeWork looks to still have some new locations coming to D.C. soon.

The District can also expect new coworking offices from organizations like CoworkCafe, and we’re still waiting to see that Bond Collective office join H Street, which was suppose to open earlier this year. It’s website currently lists its upcoming address as 609 H St. NE, so maybe we’ll see it soon? Stay tuned.

As you work through this guide of the D.C. coworking scene, you can also check out all of our coverage on coworking here, which includes stories on shared office space in other regions of the DMV.

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1776 DC

740 15th St. NW

1776’s recently reopened its D.C. location at a new office situated in Lafayette Square through a partnership with New America. The prominent network of incubators and workspaces promoted its previous Director of Culinary Sam Johnson to lead the new space as campus manager. 1776 permanently closed its former D.C. location at the end of last year and shuttered its Crystal City location earlier this year. Members from its previous two locations transitioned into the comeback site. The incubator opened in 2013 and has since seen many changes since, including merging with Philadelphia-based Benjamin’s Desk in 2017 and launching its own accelerator program in 2018.

Cool amenities: Gym access onsite (including showers and towel services), and members can work from any 1776 location

Price: Ranging from hot desk at $199/month to reserve workspace at $600/month, with private office rates upon request

AdvantEdge

2101 L St. NW, 5335 Wisconsin Ave NW #440

With two D.C. locations, AdvantEdge’s L Street location is in a Historically Underutilized Business Zone, aka HUBZone, under the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), meaning this location is SBA certified to gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities. Both spaces offer Class-A office space that’s easily accessible with multiple transportation options in the area. AdvantEdge’s offices are equipped with fully furnished offices, kitchens, receptionists and more.

Cool amenities: Bike storage in underground parking garage open 24/7

Size: About 70,000 square feet (L Street) and 53,000 feet (Wisconsin Avenue)

Price: 24/7 community access at $279, and dedicated desk at $349

Alley DC powered by Verizon

2055 L St. NW, Suite 400

Alley powered by Verizon.

Telecom giant Verizon partnered with New York-based Alley to turn some old D.C. property into a creative space designed by Gensler. The coworking space opened in June 2017 with a mix of open workspaces and private offices, as well as mural art by D.C.-based artist Rose Jaffe.

Cool amenities: Private phone rooms; unlimited coffee, tea and cereal

Size: 13,000 square feet

Price: Side hustle at $20 or day pass for $25; for monthly; shared desk for $315, dedicated desk for $525, and private office for $675

Bureau

1800 Wyoming Ave. NW

Bureau is a boutique coworking space and event studio for women located near D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood. The workspace isn’t currently accepting new members according to its website, but it hosts happy hours and workshops for the community. Members here will also have access to high-tech conference rooms and an atrium lounge.

Cool amenities: Unlimited coffee, tea, sparkling water, champagne and snacks, as well as access to sample design paint kits for interior design-focused members

Price: $50 for two days per month, $100 for five days per month, or $200 monthly for unlimited access

Carr Workplaces

Multiple locations, including 1717 K St. NW, Suite 900

Carr Workplaces has seven D.C. locations, including offices on K Street and Capitol Hill. Carr offers fully furnished workspaces, virtual offices, hot desks, private offices and more.

Cool amenities: Rooftop event space, fitness centers

Price: $25 day pass, $35/month cafe floor plan, $299/month touchdown desk (open), $440/month dedicated desk. Offices vary starting at $273

Convene

575 7th St. NW, 600 14th St. NW

Earlier this year, Convene moved into the District with two new coworking and meeting spaces, with its Terrell Place location offering its first flex workplace plan locally. The global network of flexible meeting and coworking space already had a prominent presence in Northern Virginia, and its 575 7t St. NW space features three floors of space. This location can accommodate private office suites for small and large teams at this time, ranging from 10 to 220 people, with individual membership offering coming soon.

Cool amenities: Private entrance, access to a roof deck and private cabanas for tenants and guests

Size: 72,370 square feet (Terrell Place) and 79,849 square feet (Hamilton Square)

cove

Multiple locations: 1624 14th St. NW

Inside cove's new Dupont Circle location. (Photo by James Cullum)

Inside cove.

cove’s 14th street location might be one of its most popular offices in the District, but the coworking company has four locations throughout D.C. The company prides itself on being “your neighborhood workplace” by offering open workspace, meeting rooms, community and networking events.

Cool amenities: Large windows, private call rooms

Price: $30 day pass, starting at $79/month for nights and weekends, and $229 all access

District Offices

Multiple locations, including 10 G St. NE, Suite 600

Fka DC Workspaces, District Offices has four D.C. locations that feature private offices, virtual offices, dedicated desks and coworking space. The company has a goal is to provide an office solution for tenants ranging from solopreneurs to Fortune 500 companies. The Farragut location is HUBZone qualified and locations feature Class A buildings.

Cool amenities: Social events, large work spaces (88-person training room at the Capitol Hill location

Flex Office Space

1415 H St NE

Flex Office Space is exclusive to the District and has flex desk, private office, coworking and virtual office membership options.

Cool amenities: Central location, Event access

Price: Daily pass $25, flex desk $99/month, dedicated desk $299/month

Hera Hub DC

5028 Wisconsin Ave. NW #100

Hera Hub DC is a coworking space and incubator exclusively for women in the District. The international female-focused coworking space and business accelerator also has locations in San Diego, Phoenix and elsewhere. Hera Hub was founded in 2011 for entrepreneurial women to create and collaborate in a professional, productive, spa-like environment.

Cool amenities: Business support, guest passes, writers’ lounge and a business book club

Size: About 4,400 square feet

Price: Community access plan for $89/month, memberships from $169/month to $429/month

The Hive 2.0

1231 Good Hope Road SE

The Hive 2.0 offers three levels of memberships with 24/7 access, flexible terms, meeting space and more. With the support of Capital One Bank and DC Department of Housing and Community Development, this coworking space hosts small business workshops and networking events that are free and open to the public.

Cool amenities: Access to the common areas of the Anacostia Arts Center, flexible lease terms

Price: Memberships fall under three categories — affiliate (open desk $110/month), associate (dedicated desk $375/month), executive (private office $725)

H Street Greenhouse

1341 H St. NE

Launched in 2008, H Street Greenhouse provides flexible workspace and support for professionals working in the creative, building arts and support services sectors. The space is managed by the Taurus Development Group, which also works out of the building. It currently accommodates about 40 people, but the company has plans to expand to fit up to 200 people by 2021.

Cool amenities: In June, H Street Greenhouse also launched its Experience Lab Incubator, an initiative for second-career entrepreneurs transitioning from working for someone else to working for themselves.

Price: Meeting memberships at $100, community memberships at $150, half-time desks available at $250 and full time desks at $350

Inclusive Innovation Incubator

2301 Georgia Ave. NW

Launched in April 2017, the Inclusive Innovation Incubator, commonly called In3DC, aims to host and support diverse entrepreneurs. The office space was designed by D.C.-based architecture firm Wingate Hughes and the incubator previously hosted Street Pitch, D.C.’s version of “Shark Tank.” The space, which is situated next to Howard University (HU), is a joint venture between D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, HU and In3DC. The incubator has more than 50 open seats with four conference rooms, open desk seating and private offices.

Cool amenities: A “Grow & Glow” programming series highlighting women entrepreneurs, technologists and creatives, a mission of diversity

Price: $15 day pass, $200/month for open desk, starting at $500/month for private office

Industrious

1 Thomas Circle NW, #700

The multi-city Industrious’ D.C. location is equipped with private offices, conference rooms, common areas and a wellness room. The office space has city views and light-filled interiors with a terrace and a newly renovated fitness center.

Cool amenities: Central location, parking garage, bike storage

Size: 21,000 square feet

Price: Flexible seating $450/month, dedicated desk $617/month, offices can range from $864 to $3641

MakeOffices

Multiple locations, including 1015 15th St. NW, #600

MakeOffices is another chain of coworking spaces with six D.C. locations spreading from K Street to Dupont Circle and the Wharf. The coworking space grants its members 24/7 access and has an extensive list of amenities including locker storage, parking, a recording room and more.

Cool amenities: Relaxation rooms with massage chairs, discounted gym memberships, unlimited craft beer on tap

Price: $35 day pass, $75/month virtual office, $325/month open desk, private offices from $700/month at the K Street location

Metro Offices

700 12th St. NW; 1250 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 700; 1725 I St. NW, Suite 300

Metro Offices has three D.C. locations with an array of amenities at each from 24/7 access to a rooftop terrace at the coworking space’s Farragut Square location. All are equipped with hot desks, conference centers and more.

Cool amenities: Onsite restaurant at Dupont Circle location, fitness centers, rooftop terrace

Price: $500/month dedicated desk, $800/month private office

Mindspace

1301 K St. NW

Tel Aviv-based coworking company Mindspace expanded to the U.S. in 2018 after growth in Europe and Israel, and landed one of its first two locations in D.C.

Situated in the same building as the Washington Post, Mindspace will definitely give you Harry Potter vibes as soon as you walk in. The roomy K Street location has a full kitchen, lounges, books on books, and chill-out areas (aka space for you to take a little nap).

Cool Amenities: Soda fountain, coffee bar, Mindspace app and a meditation room

Price: Open desk at $450, private offices for one to eight people range from $770 to $4,000 monthly

Open Gov Hub

1110 Vermont Ave. NW #500

Open Gov Hub.

Open Gov Hub is a coworking space for open government organizations using research, advocacy, media and technology to further these issues. The hub is part of a global network — but its D.C. location is currently at capacity, so expect to join a waiting list.

Cool amenities: Staffing support, billiards, ping pong, air hockey, shuffleboard, TVs, 4,000-square-foot event space and 24-person conference room

Premier Business Centers

2001 L St. NW, Suite 500; 601 13th St. NW, Suite 900 in the Homer Building

Premiere Business Centers has two District locations has private offices, day offices, meetings rooms and more. The coworking space has three different membership levels: startup, business and professional.

Cool amenities: Big windows, fitness centers

Size: 12,687-square-foot (Homer), 17,178 square foot (L Street)

Price: Memberships start at $29/month for startup, $149/month for business and $299/month for professional

Regus

Multiple locations, including 1441 L. St. NW

Regus is booming with about 10 D.C. locations in high-profile locations with flexible pay-as-you-go buying options. Prices vary by the location.

Cool amenities: Business lounges, fitness centers, terrace access

Price: Offices starting at $15/day at L Street site

Servcorp

1155 F St NW Suite 1050, 1717 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Suite 1025

Servcorp is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and offers office spaces, virtual offices, coworking and IT solutions in over 160 locations, including its two D.C. offices. The F Street office is designed with original art work created by international artist Ford Smith. With the $300 per month coworking package, members can get a secured phone number with a dedicated receptionist to answer all incoming calls.

Cool amenities: Tech support, dedicated receptionist, local business phone number

Size: About 5,600 square feet

Price: Virtual office at $229/month, hot desk at $300/month, dedicated desk at $450, private offices at $1,000/month

Spaces

1441 L St. NW, floors 10 to 12; 1140 3rd St. NE

Spaces originated in Amsterdam and now has two D.C. locations equipped with meeting space, dozens of dedicated desks and 24/7 access. The flexible coworking space has different membership options ranging from memberships for small companies with private office space to just renting out meeting rooms and event spaces.

Cool amenities: Networking lunches, meeting space

Price: Coworking membership $239/month, dedicated desk $386/month, office $623/month (at NoMa)

Two Birds

4001 Brandywine St. NW

Founded by two working parents, Two Birds was created to allow parents to cowork, and have a safe place to bring their children for childcare. The coworking space is completely separate from the childcare area, and the space features shared and dedicated desk options. Two Birds opened in April in Tenleytown.

Cool amenities: Full-time, monthly childcare for $2,300 or part-time for $1,250 monthly, plus conference rooms and private telephone rooms

Price: $250/month for shared desk, $400/month for dedicated desk

WeWork

Multiple locations, including 777 6th St. NW

At the entrance to WeWork's new space. (Photo by Tajha Chappellet-Lanier)

A D.C. WeWork.

WeWork has 13 D.C. locations — 10 currently operating and three coming soon. The international chain of coworking spaces has hot desks starting around $400 per month, though prices may vary depending on the location.

Cool amenities: Fruit water, space for large companies, unique common areas

Price: Hot desks from $390/month, dedicated desk from $530/month, private office from $950/month

The Wing

1056 Thomas Jefferson St. NW

Senator Gillibrand speaks at The Wing. (Photo via Twitter)

Senator Gillibrand speaks at The Wing. (Photo via Twitter)

The Wing is another work and community space designed just for women. Membership includes access to open-plan and private workspace plus amenities designed with women’s needs in mind. The coworking space has a full calendar of community events and workshops as well.

Cool amenities: Library, lactation room, shower, charging station

Price: Monthly memberships begin at $185

The Yard: Eastern Market

700 Pennsylvania Ave SE

The Yard Eastern Market is located in Capitol Hill’s Hine School Development and has been open for two years. This location is equipped with lounges, conference rooms and common areas to inspire collaborative conversation. Members have access to the space 24/7 and are able to book the rooftop event venue and boardrooms.

Cool amenities: Art gallery, ergonomic chairs from Knoll, key card access, wellness program

Size: 31,480 square feet

Price: $350 open floor, $495/month dedicated desk, $650/month private office

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Did we miss anybody? Email us at dc@technical.ly.


Houwzer is expanding in DC after closing a $9.5M Series A round

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Philadelphia-based real estate startup Houwzer is expanding its team in D.C. after raising a $9.5 million Series A funding round.

This comes after the creator of a tech-enabled brokerage service expanded its team in the District in January 2019 following raising $4.5 million in seed funding. This Series A was led by New Jersey-based Edison Partners, and previous investors Admiral Capital Group and real estate investor Ira Lubert also participated.

Houwzer leverages technology and full-service, salaried realtors to save home sellers an average of $15,000 and provide home buyers a pressure-free experience, it reports. Traditionally, agents would receive a 6% fee, but instead, Houwzer charges a flat $5,000 listing fee paid at closing plus 2.5% for the buyer’s broker. The company said this model saves home sellers an average of $15,000 in commissions.

Houwzer plans to use the fresh funding to expand to the Baltimore area, and grow its existing presence in the Philly and Washington, D.C. regions. The company said it also plans to double its workforce and expand into the Orlando area over the next year.

Howzer currently employs 15 full-timers in D.C., with plans to grow to a team of 21 in the region this year, the company’s cofounder and CEO, Mike Maher, told Technical.ly.

“D.C. is our fastest-growing market right now as we grew revenue by 273% in 2019 and we need to support the demand,” Maher said.

Maher said Houwzer plans to hire buyer agents, apprentice agents and a sales manager in D.C. The real estate startup mainly advertises its open positions through promotions on LinkedIn and Indeed. As the company continues to grow in D.C., Maher said Houwzer will continue to work out of 1776 Lafayette Square.

“Our solution resonates because it puts the customer first — reducing chaos in the transaction without sacrificing service,” Maher said in a statement. “We’re really excited to have found the right partner in Edison, who shares our vision and will help us bring a new real estate model to the masses.”

Vienna-based Remine laid off another 38 employees

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Nearly a year after the venture-funded, Vienna, Virginia-based Remine laid off 42 sales employees, the real estate platform company is cutting its workforce again.

Founded in 2016, Remine manages a real estate tech platform that connects mortgage lenders, real estate agents and consumers. The platform analyzes property records, transactional history and consumer data for real estate agents around the country.

The company shared in a blog post on March 9 that it had laid off 38 employees in an effort to “pivot towards being a full enterprise MLS [multiple listing service] vendor,” and that departing employees would be offered severance packages and an option to be included in a “layoff press sheet” to connect them with other opportunities.

Last year when Remine made those sales employee layoffs, Remine President Leo Pareja wrote in a LinkedIn article that the company made the decision to cut employees to focus on providing tech to the MLS community, similar to its reasoning for layoffs today.

“Over the past few months, we spent time reflecting on our need to change, talked extensively with our customers about their needs, and then took a long hard look at how we were organized,” the company explained in Tuesday’s post. “What we discovered was that we had become a little heavy in some areas of the organization and too lean in others.”

Despite Remine saying that these layoffs don’t correlate with financial struggles, real estate news provider Inman reported that it received tips that the layoffs are due to low finances. Inman also reported that Remine is potentially trying to align itself to be acquired by New York-based real estate tech company Compass.

These layoffs come after Remine made some key additions to its leadership team back in January. The company welcomed former Redfin executive Chelsea Goyer as its new chief of staff; MLS expert Quinn Nichols has joined the team as VP of communications; and Troy Feeken has been appointed the company’s senior director of MLS product and implementation.

According to LinkedIn, Remine’s VP of finance and accounting Rikki Williams departed from the company last month, and its former executive VP and general counsel, Jeff Lord, hasn’t been employed with the company since last November.

When reached by email, Nichols declined to answer Technical.ly’s questions about current employee count, which departments were impacted by the most recent layoffs and the possible Compass acquisition. Over 100 LinkedIn users cited Remine as their employer as of Wednesday afternoon.

Also recently, Remine suffered from a security misconfiguration last month. During a time period in Remine’s password-protected development environment, anyone outside of the company was able to register an account to log in, TechCrunch reported. This space is where Remine’s developers share private keys secrets and other passwords. When Mossab Hussein, a security researcher at Dubai-based cybersecurity firm SpiderSilk, discovered the breach, he reported it to TechCrunch who then reported it to Remine.

JBG Smith is managing some tours of its commercial spaces through a DC-founded web app

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JBG Smith Properties is piloting a web app for virtual showings of its commercial spaces.

The real estate investment trust located in Bethesda, Maryland owns and develops mixed-use properties in the D.C. area, including Amazon’s HQ2. JBG partnered with D.C.-based OfficeTour to launch the web application which allows leasing professionals to lead interactive, virtual tours with prospective tenants.

“Through our collaboration with OfficeTour, we can couple a dynamic visual experience with the enhanced ability to communicate with our clients by responding to questions and pointing out key features that might go unnoticed during a self-guided virtual tour,” said JBG EVP David Ritchey in a press release.

The announcement of this partnership comes as D.C. is stuck in phase two of its reopening plan, with no clear timeline for moving forward. To keep fighting the coronavirus, Mayor Muriel Bowser also recently announced that anyone traveling for nonessential activities and entering to the District from 27 high-risk states must self-quarantine for 14 days (though there aren’t clear details on how D.C. plans to manage this).

“Innovation, creativity, market leadership, and customer experience are essential to office leasing in all market conditions,” Ritchey said. “The COVID-19 crisis made it clear that our virtual experience needed to reflect the same best-in-class approach.”

OfficeTour is the developer of a web-based platform with a simple interface that allows multiple users to view a real estate space and interact at the same time. The company said that its tech doesn’t require prospective tenants to download anything to participate in virtual tours on its platform, making the viewing process more seamless.

“We wanted to complement what happens in real life, where personal interaction between parties looking for offices allows for discovery and deal alignment,” said OfficeTour founder Zak Kidd. “Additionally, we wanted to prioritize the ability for the landlord’s broker to establish a real connection with the tenant driven by this integrated, collaborative experience.”

JBG, which says it currently owns 20.8 million square feet of office, multifamily and retail spaces, is the first real estate company to use OfficeTour’s web application. The company plans to run virtual tours at 30 of its spaces, including its property at 1900 N St. NW and several in Northern Virginia.

JBG’s focus on tours begs the question: Will local biz leaders return to the office, let alone look for a new one, any time soon? The real estate company itself reported a drop in earnings due to the pandemic. Some local tech businesses may follow the lead of Big Tech and not return to IRL work until summer 2021. But ultimately, as with so much related to the pandemic, we’ll have to wait and see.

This DC-based real estate brokerage firm is using VR for property simulations

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Truxton Circle-based real estate brokerage firm Urban District Realty launched a VR tech product for agents to manage property simulations virtually.

Founded in 2017, Urban District Realty works with clients looking to buy, sell or develop luxury properties in the District and Virginia.

The firm’s PROJETO product puts agents and clients in the same virtual environment to view and explore properties under construction together. Ryan Fiero, principal broker and CEO of Urban District Realty, said he had the idea for the tech tool when he was thinking of ways to better serve the company’s clients.

“When we went to sell developments before they were built, we had to use blueprints, plans and renderings. We felt the best way to service our clients was to allow them to walk around a space before it was built,” Fiero said in a statement. “However, the tool we sought didn’t exist, so we developed it ourselves.”

Joel Garcia, Urban District Realty’s in-house virtual reality director, said that PROJETO was not created as a response to the coronavirus pandemic: This tech product has been in the works before the health crisis.

“The introduction of social distancing has actually challenged our paradigm of keeping human connection at the center of the experience,” Garcia said. “And I think it’s a testament to the power of VR that we don’t have to compromise that vision, and that the system can work in a controlled environment.”

Garcia said PROJETO intends to help clients visualize properties past 3D photos, exceeding the limits of the traditional property showing experience.

Real estate developers or anyone interested in using the patent-pending tech product to buy or sell developments can purchase a personalized solution from Urban District Realty by contacting them online or at one of the company’s outdoor pop-up events.

DC Development Report: Tech expansion continues, while coworking contracts

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At Technical.ly, we look to track movements and growth of the District’s emerging tech companies. That can mean a lot of different kinds of companies trying a bunch of new models, so it can feel like a big tent. But there are also moments when we’re reminded that tech businesses are part of a wider story of the regional economy. So where does it fit in?

The latest look comes from the Washington D.C. Economic Development Partnership, which released its annual DC Development Report this month.

It’s focused primarily on tracking real estate and construction projects, which can be a key indicator of overall business activity. It also offers an interesting look at the role that tech plays in the District.

Read the report

As with all things in a pandemic, COVID-19 plays a role in the wider economic picture, and the report relays that economic growth fell by 20.4%, and 52,100 jobs were lost in 2020. However, the category of “Professional and Business Services,” which includes tech, was the strongest performing sector, despite shedding 11,000 jobs. Here are the report’s insights on the outlook for tech:

The tech industry has ballooned in the Washington region in recent years, primarily in Northern Virginia, but also in the District and Suburban Maryland. Amazon’s growing HQ2 presence in Arlington County is the obvious regional juggernaut, but many other tech companies have planted stakes or expanded in the region in 2020 including NGP VAN and EveryAction in the District and Microsoft in Northern Virginia. Nationally, the tech industry has been largely insulated from the negative economic effects of the pandemic, and some industry sectors such as videoconferencing and cloud services has seen demand swell.

However, not every business is immune. Commercial clients have shrunk IT budgets, which has weighed on tech revenue. Smaller, undercapitalized companies (particularly startups) have been especially vulnerable to cash-flow challenges. In addition, IT companies have to contend with the same supply chain, travel, and workforce disruptions as every other industry.

Another way to view it is through the lens of offices, where businesses take space as the grow. There’s been plenty of rethinking over the last year among tech companies who have set up remote operations and found productive WFH in 2020. But there are still signs that tech companies are continuing to build physical space into their plans. The report cites a trio of new leases in East End as among the highlights:

  • Data intelligence company Morning Consult’s move to triple its office space with a new HQ at the Woodies Building
  • Donor management software company EveryAction’s new 35,000-square-foot space
  • Democratic party hosting provider NGP VAN Inc.’s 34,000-square-foot space

When it comes to coworking spaces, which have been a prime home for the District’s startups, on the other hand, there’s contraction. The prime evidence comes by way of WeWork, the global brand which at one point had 13 spaces in D.C., prior to financial troubles that stemmed from an abandoned 2019 IPO, and big changes to survive the pandemic. It plans to close three spaces in 2020 and plans to close four more in 2021. And  Regus, MakeOffices and Spaces have all closed locations in the District or shut down operations, it reports.

“The rapid expansion of coworking firms in the Washington region has likely come to an end,” the report states. “Even prior to the pandemic there was concern over the risk that the coworking industry brought to office investors, especially since the industry has not yet proven how well it could weather an economic recession.”

It’s a reminder that when we re-emerge from the pandemic, the landscape may not look the same.

Behind the growing footprint of Maryland’s 55K-employee life sciences industry

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For Maryland, the signs of a rising life sciences concentration were already there before the pandemic.

Long home to federal institutions like the National Institutes of Health and leading universities, suburban areas like Montgomery County have long been home to a cluster of talent and companies working to commercialize pharmaceuticals, biotech and medical devices. Then came the pandemic. The federal government needed to invest in new treatments to stop the spread of COVID-19. In Maryland, the companies around the NIH and FDA figured prominently in the solution, as many had expertise that left them poised to jump into the fight.

In its 2020 outlook for the industry nationally, published in the summer of 2020, commercial real estate services company JLL ranked Maryland fourth, behind only Boston, San Francisco and San Diego.

“Life sciences is what I consider the shining star in the mid-Atlantic,” said Peter Briskman, JLL’s managing director overseeing the regional life sciences practice. And suburban Maryland is a big reason.

The report states that more than 55,000 people were employed in the industry in Maryland, a figure which grew 9% over five years. That talent has always been key.

“We have this educated workforce with the highest concentration of Ph.D.s per capita of everywhere in the country,” Briskman said. “Quality of life is strong in comparison to other biohealth hubs. When you look at real estate for life sciences, R&D and manufacturing, it’s half of what some of these other regions are in terms of cost.”

And JLL research showed that the average wage for Montgomery County in 2020 was $169,488, which would rank it third behind San Francisco and Boston. D.C. Metro as a whole isn’t quite that high, but remains in the top 10 with average salaries of $140,000.

When it comes to the space these companies need, Briskman can also see more signs of maturity among companies taking place. Companies don’t only need R&D space to develop new solutions. Now, they’re building manufacturing space, and converting offices to suit needs. One example came in Rockville, where Supernus Pharmaceuticals moved its HQ in early 2020 to Key West Crossing after a conversion from office to lab space there. In another sign of companies maturing, companies like AstraZeneca in Gaithersburg, Qiagen in Germantown and Novavax in Gaithersburg are owning their own land and leasing some to other tenants.

“What makes Maryland unique is the existing real estate and adaptability for R&D and manufacturing,” Briskman said.

And development companies have shown themselves more willing to build on “spec,” which means they don’t already have tenants lined up before going to construction. And vacancy is low.

“The total supply is growing,” he said. “Over the last three years, it has grown by over 300,000 square feet. I expect that to double within the next 18 months.”

This growth can be traced back to several key metrics — some of which developed over the last year, and others which have come to fruition over years. Here are several flagged by JLL:

  • Operation Warp Speed — Funding from the federal government’s public-private program to develop vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics for COVID-19 went to four companies with a sizable base in Montgomery County: AstraZeneca, GSK, Emergent Biosolutions and Novavax. The last one, which is based in Gaithersburg, received $1.6 billion in funding from OWS. Those particular investments haven’t yet completely borne out when it comes to vaccines, as AstraZeneca and Novavax haven’t had their vaccines approved yet by U.S. regulators, and Emergent has been taken off manufacturing leadership after a mix-up. But from the perspective of the Maryland economy, it stimulated immediate growth in the form of facilities and jobs. If anything, it was a reflection of the companies and activity that was already here, and ready to meet demand, Briskman said.
  • Long-term funding growth — VC funding for life sciences companies ticked up from $128 million in 2017 to more than $557.6 million in 2018, and then over $800 million in 2020. “There’s a direct correlation between that influx of venture capital and new hiring and company growth,” Briskman said. And the funding on either end of company life cycle has also been increasing: Increased NIH funding for R&D is trending up, and the region’s companies raised $1.3 billion through initial public offerings on the public stock exchanges last year.
  • Clinical trials — Activity in the pipeline of drug development has an effect, as well. Over 15 companies in the state are in Phase 3 clinical trials, which means their treatments have reached the point of being tested on large groups of patients and are readying for regulatory approval. Historically, there were more concentrations in the early and mid-stage. “That’s a sign of a region maturing,” Briskman said.

This WeWork-supported Tysons company is helping women become hotel owners

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When Tracy Prigmore decided to shift her career to hotel ownership, it didn’t take long for her to notice the lack of women owners at industry events and conferences. And after she rose to success as a Hilton and Marriott franchise owner, she found she wasn’t the only one wondering how to get started in the world of real estate investment.

“Once I actually broke through and became an owner, many women were approaching me and saying…’I’ve always wanted to own hotels, I’m very interested in owning hotels. However, I’ve been to this conference, I’ve been to that conference, I listened to this panel and I’m still not clear or sure where to start or how it works,'” Prigmore told Technical.ly.

After attempting to work with multiple hotel chains on improving the number of women in the industry, Prigmore took matters into her own hands and founded She Has a Deal.

“I knew that, number one, women needed to be exposed and inspired because if you don’t see yourself or see other women doing it, you don’t think necessarily that it’s woman-suited or a woman’s business,” Prigmore said. “So I wanted to first expose and inspire them, and then most importantly educate on, how do you get started?”

The company’s education platform features a multitude of master classes on hotel ownership, networking opportunities and investment how-to. To help women bring what they’ve learned full circle, the four-person, Tysons, Virginia-based company hosts an annual pitch competition to help women get the equity and investments they need to kickstart their hotel ownership plans.  It also created a fund to invest in deals.

The company, founded in 2019, was recently announced as one of the winners of the Women For Tomorrow initiative from WeWork, receiving free workspace from the coworking company and mentorship.

Prigmore said that the first pitch competition in 2020 featured 27 women, and 20 participated in its second annual event on June 5. One of the most important aspects of She Has a Deal, she said, is teaching women how to legally raise equity through vehicles like crowdfunding platforms and Regulation D to help them find the capital they need.

She Has a Deal seeks to inspire and educate women on opportunities in hotel ownership.

According to Prigmore, some of the discrepancies faced by women in the industry can be attributed to the general lower amounts of wealth and income women accumulate.

“Some research that we found shows that women invest less, or are less comfortable taking on risk and investing,” Prigmore said. “And investing is what helps also to generate wealth…As a whole, women have a lower net worth, lower liquidity than males, so the ability to be able to invest your own money as well as to get a loan or qualified for a loan, it can be a challenge.”

It’s also especially important to ensure women are prepared and knowledgeable about investments, Prigmore said, because many funds have men at the forefront.

“There are men who actually control the dollars, who make those decisions,” Prigmore said. “So when they see a woman or get an application from a woman, they haven’t seen a lot of women in this space and there are some gender biases about, how can they be successful?”

The annual She Has a Deal pitch competition was started for early-career women looking to break into the hotel business. For the third event in 2022, Prigmore said it will be opening up applications for an additional track for more seasoned professionals, as well. Applications for both tracks open June 24.

Going forward, Prigmore said She Has a Deal hopes to bring on an executive director in the earlier part of 2022. This month, it also launched its first funding round seeking $20 million in seed funding, which will primarily go back into women-owned hotel investments. She’s also been approached about launching a She Has a Deal Canada competition, and eventually hopes to continue expanding internationally.


A ‘clean cloud community’ is coming to Frederick

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Powered by an investment from TPG Real Estate Partners (TREP), Texas company Quantum Loophole has big plans for tech infrastrcuture in Frederick County, Maryland.

With the acquisition of the former Alcoa Eastalco Works site, the company announced plans this week for a new data center (aka one of the big hubs that power the servers and systems for tech companies) campus spread across 2,100 acres. But according to Quantum CEO Josh Snowhorn, the new build is more than just your average data center. He told Technical.ly that people can think of it more like a big master plan for a housing community, where additional data centers can be built either for or by others on the campus.

“From a resource perspective, you can see we have over 2,000 acres of land, but we have all these different parcels of land to divide and create what will become a master plan,” Snowhorn said, adding that it will essentially be an “industrial complex.”

He said the company is taking a more holistic approach to data centers and dividing up “pieces of the pie” to help others build out their own data centers sustainably, while also providing energy to power them.

“The main thesis behind our complex though is to be able to provide a centralized energy resource, so bringing in transmission-scale energy that’s highly reliable from the grid,” Snowhorn said. Some of that energy could also be renewable.

For some perspective: One megawatt of solar energy can power about 125 homes in D.C., according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, and one gigawatt equals 1,000 megawatts. Quantum’s first build, which is expected to take about 18 months to complete, will be roughly one gigawatt of transmission power capacity. The company anticipates that less-powerful, 30-to-120 MW capacity modules can be completed in under nine months. Overall, the company thinks it can built about 3 gigawatts of capacity on the campus for its “clean cloud community.”

Josh Snowhorn. (Courtesy photo)

The community also intends to implement some eco-friendly aspects. Snowhorn said the campus will not have on-site renewable energy sources, save for some rooftop solar, but the center will be able to connect to nearby renewable energy sources. It can also feed into a lithium-ion battery farm. Plus, Snowhorn said, Quantum plans to use the nearby gray water that flows by the campus for a centralized cooling plant.

Additionally, Quantum will be building a fiber ring between the campus and northern Virginia, which can tether into the existing ecosystem of carriers. According to Snowhorn, it will be the largest ever built in a single-path conduit path in the area.

Ty Newell, managing director at TREP, said that demand for cloud computing has boomed over the last decade, and it sees Frederick County as an important growth space for the booming data center market in Northern Virginia.

“With industrial zoning and access to significant power capacity, the development site will offer several benefits to a fast-growing hyperscale tenant base that is intensely focused on speed of delivery,” Newell said in a statement.

Snowhorn also hopes to cut down emissions by delivering construction materials to the site via train instead of trucks. The clean-powered data centers also follow the trend of many big tech giants like Facebook and Google, who have made an effort to build renewable-powered data centers to power their sites.

“A percentage of the world’s grid is taken by data centers…” Snowhorn said. “I think you’re seeing a concerted effort to go to 100% renewables and and complete 100% sustainability.”

Money Moves: With acquisition, DC’s EveryAction is now part of a social impact-focused SaaS company valued at $2B

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EveryAction, a DC-based software platform for fundraising, nonprofits and donors, was acquired this week by Apax Partners, a global investment firm.

EveryAction, which Apax acquired from Insight Partners, will be combined with Austin, Texas-based public sector and nonprofit software provider Social Solutions, which Apax also acquired from Vista Equity Partners. The pair will be combined with corporate philanthropy software provider CyberGrants, another recent acquisition, to create software-as-a-service solutions for social good, Apax said. The combined companies have an enterprise value of $2 billion and combine revenue value of $200 million annually.Vista will retain a stake with the deal.

According to Apax, the combined company will be the second largest social good software company in the world.

“The social good community will benefit from this combination of best-in-class solutions, and by connecting nonprofits with a large network of givers,” said Stu Trevelyan, CEO of EveryAction, in a statement

EveryAction previously had an acquisition streak of its own, scooping up Blue State Digital, ActionKit and DonorTrend in a matter of six weeks in 2019.

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Massachusetts-based real estate company Boston Properties (BXP) is making moves to the DMV with the purchase of the Shady Grove Bio+Tech campus in Rockville, Maryland.

The campus currently consists of seven buildings, equaling about 435,000 square feet across 31 acres. Boston Properties will be the sole owner of the development. According to a statement from the company, it plans to convert existing office buildings into Class A lab space, with construction to begin after closing, which is expected sometime this quarter.

“Suburban Maryland benefits from existing dynamics that provide a strong foundation for growth in the life science industry,” said Pete Otteni, senior VP and co-head of the DC region for Boston Properties, in a statement. It echoes a sentiment we’ve heard often in recent months. “Growing demand, combined with limited supply, make Montgomery County, Maryland, and this cluster in particular, an attractive opportunity for BXP to expand its life sciences presence. We look forward to using our life sciences expertise and real estate skills to transform the property into a leading life sciences campus in the region.”

Boston Properties also owns space in multiple areas of Massachusetts, as well as San Francisco.

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Los Angeles venture capital firm Oaktree made a $265 million investment in July into D.C.’s Galway Sustainable Capital (GSC), a finance company investing in sustainability projects.

Through the deal, GSC now has a multi-year, multi-tranche credit facility with Oaktree via a minority equity investment. The company, which was founded in 2020 and funded by Cordillera Investment Partners, provides full stack debt and equity capital for companies and projects that are eco and socially-conscious.

With the new funding, GSC said it is in a strong position to provide funding for green infrastructure projects across the country.

“We are pleased to expand our GSC partnership to include Oaktree to help us scale our business and broaden our reach,” said Jennifer von Bismarck, CEO and cofounder of GSC, in a statement. “Oaktree’s team has an outstanding track record of building successful financial institutions. With their infusion of capital and alignment around our ESG goals we look forward to growing this platform to its full potential while accelerating the transition to greater resilience and sustainability.”

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Here’s what other money is moving around the DMV: 

  • DC’s Evolent Health agreed to acquire New Jersey-based health consultant Vital Decisions, a WindRose portfolio company, for $85 million, with an additional earn out of up to $45 million.
  • Sands Capital, which is based in Arlington, Virginia, closed its second Life Sciences Fund, raising $560 million. This boosts its total assets, which are invested back into life science technologies, to $950 million. The company is already in the midst of another raise.
  • Alexandria, Virginia-based VSE Corporation acquired Global Parts Group, a distributor in the aviation technology industry, for $38 million in an all-cash deal.
  • In a round led by the Maryland Momentum Fund, Bethesda, Maryland-based thermal insulation startup Liatris raised $1 million.

Plus, check out a few notable government contracts for DMV firms:

  • Chantilly, Virginia-based Peraton landed a contract from the Department of Veteran Affairs for infrastructure as a managed service for storage and computing in infrastructure facilities. The contract is worth $497 million over a seven-year period.
  • Leidos, a Reston, Virginia-based information technology and engineering company, was awarded a $600 million contract to support the Army’s Geospatial Center.
  • Armaments Research Company, based in DC, was awarded a five-year, $60 million contract with the Department of Defense to continue developing its AI-based weapon sensing technology.
  • CACI International nabbed a contract from the Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security to upgrade and modernize its information systems. The five-year contract is worth $96 million for the Reston, Virginia, company.
  • Dulles, Virginia-based systems engineering company Technica Corporation was awarded a $43 million contract to support the Air Force Air Combat Command Intelligence Directorate.




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