Knotel Acquires Paris-Based Deskeo and Expands 112,000 SF in Manhattan
The company bought a majority stake in France’s largest flexible office provider and signed five new leases in New York City.
NEW YORK CITY—Knotel is showing its affection for Paris and Manhattan. The flexible workspace provider has more than doubled the number of its locations in Europe by acquiring a majority interest in France’s largest flex office operator, Deskeo. This positions Knotel for continued aggressive growth following its launch in London and its recent acquisition of Ahoy!Berlin. Deskeo operates over 20 locations in Paris.
Deskeo founders, Frank Zorn and Benjamin Teboul, will head Knotel operations in France. “In partnership with Knotel we can expand faster and provide a better service to our customers,” says Zorn, Deskeo’s CEO. “Knotel has achieved tremendous scale and we look forward to leveraging its broad sector expertise, operational efficiency and access to multinational enterprise accounts.”
Clients with current Deskeo leases include Shell, Claranet, Banque Travelex and President Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche.
“It was important that Knotel creates a strategic presence in Paris, which is our fourth major international city and our seventh overall,” says Amol Sarva, Knotel’s CEO.
In addition to its news in Paris, the company just signed five new leases totaling 111,704 square feet in Manhattan. Its latest bites into the Big Apple include a 10-year lease with Vanbarton Group for 35,292 square feet at 45 W. 45th St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Knotel will occupy four floors of the 135,000 square-foot, 16-story office building where Vanbarton recently completed a multi-million dollar renovation. Knotel was represented by Newmark Knight Frank’s Jared Horowitz and Ben Shapiro. Cushman & Wakefield’s Ethan Silverstein and Greg Kuhlman negotiated the lease on behalf of Vanbarton.
Knotel inked a 35,600 square-foot lease at the New School’s 36 W. 14th St. in Union Square. The space includes the entire second floor of the 180,000 square-foot office building, located between Fifth and Sixth avenues. All brokers involved in the deal were from Newmark Knight Frank. Michael Morris and Greg DiGioia represented Knotel, while Jeff Roseman and Billy Cohen represented the owners.
Knotel signed a 24,660 square-foot lease at AION Partners’ 11 E. 44th St. The 18-story, 136,000 square-foot building is one block from Grand Central Terminal. The flexible offices will be on the second, third, fifth and eighth floors. Brokers from Newmark Knight Frank also handled this lease. Morris and DiGioia again represented Knotel. William Cohen and JD Cohen represented the landlord.
The non-traditional officer provider agreed to a 10,722 square-foot lease at Skyway Development Group’s 30 W. 21st St., situated between Fifth and Sixth avenues in the Flatiron District. Knotel will occupy the entire fourth and seventh floors. Christel Engel of Colliers International represented the landlord. There was no outside broker for Knotel.
Finally, Knotel leased 5,430 square feet at Condo Structure’s 22 W. 21st St. in the Flatiron District. The space includes a portion of the building’s third floor. Elie Reiss of Skylight Leasing represented Knotel while Jonathan Anapol and Chris Bellino of Prime Manhattan Realty represented building ownership.
These leases were announced shortly after Knotel leased over 60,000 square feet at 61 Broadway, a building where RXR Realty holds a majority interest.
The company has a strong presence in Midtown South, which Cushman & Wakefield reports has the highest office rents in the country. Over the last 12 months, Knotel has completed 37 deals in this district totaling about 600,000 square feet.
Knotel occupies more than two million square feet in approximately 100 locations. In addition to New York, Paris and Berlin, it leases space in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and São Paulo with plans to move into Rio de Janeiro.