Northwest Arkansas will become home to the state’s first WeWork location as the company announced today that it’s expanding to Bentonville.
WeWork Companies Inc. plans to open a massive 200,000-square-foot development in the city’s downtown area. The announcement took place during a panel discussion in Bentonville between WeWork Co-Founder Miguel McKelvey, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Bentonville Mayor Stephanie Orman, and Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Graham Cobb.
“It’s a privilege to be working with such like-minded partners to create a new space – to be built from the ground up – that will reimagine how people come together,” said Miguel McKelvey, WeWork co-founder and chief culture officer. “This space will offer new ways of working for organizations large and small, and will be a place for the entire community to connect.
“WeWork and Bentonville share a vision for the future. We see communities and companies supporting each other in new ways. WeWork is a platform that uses space, technology and services to help people make a life, not just a living. It’s part of an ecosystem changing how we work, live and learn all over the world and we are thrilled to welcome Bentonville to our global community.”
Renowned Architect Michel Rojkind is overseeing the Bentonville project, having recently joined WeWork as the global company’s senior vice president of architecture, leading all ground-up projects. One of WeWork’s first ground-up developments, the building will accommodate retail, community space and a workplace for more than 3,200 WeWork members across several floors.
“I am always grateful when a company chooses to locate in Arkansas,” Hutchinson said. “Northwest Arkansas is a good fit for WeWork, where the company’s vision will dovetail with the innovative spirit and the entrepreneurial spirit that has made NWA one of the fastest-growing areas of our nation.”
WeWork will provide to the project its fully-integrated platform, including core and shell design, construction and management expertise to service small-to-medium sized businesses and the area’s large enterprise community.
“We’re proud our hometown is at the epicenter of retail,” Orman said. “Having WeWork here in Bentonville helps to attract new jobs to our city, diversify our economy and improve the new ways we do business.”
In an investment partnership with City Center LLC, led by developers Josh Kyles and Blue Crane LLC, WeWork worked closely with Cushman and Wakefield/Sage Partners on this urban infill project.
