BENGALURU: WeWork, a flexible office operating company, has leased 1.43 lakh square feet of office space to IBM and OpenText in two transactions at its facility in Embassy Golf Links Business Park in Bengaluru.
US technology major IBM has leased 73,000 sq ft for two years while Canadian information management solutions firm OpenText has taken 70,000 sq ft for the same tenure, two industry insiders aware of the deals said. Both the facilities have the capacity to accommodate 600 seats each.
“There has been a growing demand for managed office space by enterprises,” one of the sources said. “Both the companies have leased space recently and are expected to be operational in the near future.”
WeWork did not reply to an email by ET till press time Wednesday.
According to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield, the supply of flexible office space in India reached 58 million square feet in the first half of 2024, representing a record 27% share of total office leasing activity.
The predominant user base of these workspaces is the information technology (IT) sector, which made up 50% of total absorption so far this year. It is followed by the engineering and manufacturing sector at 18%, and banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) at 12%.
In August, IBM secured a lease renewal for approximately 830,000 sq ft of office space in Bengaluru, with an annual rental cost of Rs 143 crore in one of the largest single transactions in the segment this year.
IBM maintains a significant presence in the office space sector, boasting a portfolio of around 10 million sq ft of leased space in major Indian cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Noida, Gurgaon, and Kolkata.
OpenText has recently opened its new 1.9 lakh sq ft development centre in the Hyderabad Financial District.
WeWork India operates in eight cities across 55 locations, serving over 70,000 members.
