Growth in Times of a Pandemic: Mindspace Is Expanding with a New Branch in Israel

Tel-Aviv, January 21st, 2021  — Despite the ongoing pandemic, Mindspace continues to expand its locations. The new branch “Mindspace La Guardia” will open in March 2021 in the new Vitania Tower at the La Guardia junction in Tel Aviv. Mindspace reports that a ‘return to the office’ work routine is on the rise recently, and it anticipates the amount of remote workers to decrease in 2021 in light of the deployment of COVID-19 vaccinations. Mindspace reports a 83% rise in the number of deals in recent months, compared to the same period last year, as well as growth in demand for hybrid solutions. In the past quarter (Q4 2020) many companies joined Mindspace under the format of hybrid solutions. The hybrid solutions provide various flexible configurations that include managing employee attendance in cohorts, expanding or reducing office space according to the customer’s needs, or using spaces part-time instead of daily. 

Besides startups and small businesses, Mindspace is also home to corporations and larger companies such as Microsoft, Samsung, Yahoo!, Expedia, GoPro, Barclays Bank, Techstars Accelerator, and many more. 

Dan Zakai, CEO & Co-Founder and Yotam Alroy, CBO & Co-Founder

The benefits of working in flex offices
Now more than ever, workspaces that allow for a ‘plug-and-play’ model have many advantages: along with simplified operations, companies benefit from the “all-inclusive” model covering property taxes, infrastructure and maintenance costs, office services, cleaning and upholding the “purple seal” standard, as well as access to the Mindspace global customer community. Given the prevalent uncertainty in the market, companies want to avoid making long-term decisions regarding their office space which is why flex offices offer the ideal solution for the many companies seeking to return to work from the office.

A new strategy: management agreements
Mindspace is implementing a management agreements’ strategy in collaboration with property owners to operate their buildings. These agreements enable Mindspace to provide an innovative and state-of-the-art service to the building’s occupants while enjoying the profits of such operations, as well as the additional services and amenities in the building. In the last two years, Mindspace has signed five management agreements with property owners in Israel, Europe and the United States, and in the beginning of 2021 the company plans to expand in both Philadelphia and Berlin.

Mindspace La Guardia
The new La Guardia branch extends over 4,000 sqm and includes 600 workstations on floors 7-9. Office spaces are available in configurations of private offices for large and small companies, and each floor offers shared spaces, full kitchens, meeting rooms and event spaces. La Guardia is Mindspace’s fifth branch in Israel, joining Rothschild Boulevard and Ahad Ha’am in Tel Aviv, “Hamenofim” in Herzliya and “Habursa” in Ramat Gan, which are part of the 31 Mindspace branches in 16 cities around the world.

The ‘Vitania Tel Aviv Tower’ is located on the La Guardia interchange of Ayalon highway, a six-minute walk from the Hagana train station. The tower is categorized as a ‘green building’ adhering to standards of sustainability, environmental responsibility and efficient resource utilization. Vitania was designed by ‘Yashar Architects’ and – besides its luxurious lobby – offers its tenants a gym, a restaurant, an event hall, bicycle rooms, showers, and more. Among its occupants is the Gornitzky and Co law firm. 

Yotam Alroy, Mindspace Co-Founder: “Covid-19 has accelerated processes globally and has made the flex model the ideal choice for the present. On the one hand most companies now express an interest in flexible solutions for shorter periods of time starting from one month – compared to standard contracts lasting 5-10 years, and on the other hand property owners are shifting to management agreements and the introduction of flex office spaces in their buildings. The latter offers them a higher potential in both occupancy and income in times of an economic slowdown. We are proud to collaborate with Vitania, an innovative and high-quality real estate company, with an advanced mindset and a strong awareness of the work environment of the future.”

Ofer Ziv, CEO of Vitania, states that “this project will contribute to the renewal of the entire area. The project will have excellent transport accessibility due to its location on the Ayalon and La Guardia interchange and also in view of the proximity to a planned pedestrian path that will connect it to the Haganah train station. In accordance with contemporary planning trends in Israel and globally, we are currently moving forward with an additional office building and a third tower – next to the existing office building – that is intended for hotels and residences, in order to create a vibrant urban center around the clock.”

Ziv adds that “introducing a mixed-use will allow the complex to generate activity both in the evening and during the busy morning hours, when the residents will not only enjoy the proximity to their work in the area, but also maximum accessibility to the city and the huge planned development in the complex itself. The importance of the project for the aesthetic of Tel Aviv is significant; it offers a real change to the Tel Aviv skyline, for all those coming into the city from the southern entrance. For the tenants, this is an excellent location that prevents entering and leaving the city during rush hour.”

In addition, Ziv refers to the management agreement with Mindspace: “we are happy to cooperate with Mindspace. During these times when the world of work as we know it is changing, offering flex offices is the right thing to do. Mindspace is therefore the natural choice, being a global, established, stable company as well as successful in the Israeli market.”

About Mindspace
Mindspace is a boutique flex space provider, presenting a global mindset with a local flavor. We redefine the workplace experience for companies of all sizes. Our beautifully designed spaces, personalized level of service and carefully curated events foster enhanced employee engagement and a strong sense of community, accommodating the way people work, innovate and grow. Our customer base includes blue-chip companies, enterprises and SMBs, in 31 locations, 16 cities and 7 countries across Europe and the US. Besides startups and small businesses, Mindspace is also home to corporations and larger companies such as Microsoft, Samsung, Yahoo!, Expedia, GoPro, Barclays Bank, Techstars Accelerator, and many more. For further information please visit Mindspace.me, or follow Mindspace on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

About Vitania
Vitania is listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and is one of the oldest and most experienced companies in Israel in the field of initiating, developing and managing office buildings, commerce, residences and hotels. The company owns hundreds of thousands of square meters of revenue-generating office and commercial space throughout the country, which is leased to market-leading tenants in all fields. The company has additional projects amounting to approximately 400,000 square meters in planning, construction and development processes in Tel Aviv, Herzliya Pituach, Petah Tikva and Ness Ziona.

‘Vitania Tel Aviv’ was built on the Harash Street on the La Guardia junction. The first phase included the completion of a 40,000 square meter office building with 32 office floors atop commercial floors and showrooms. In the second phase, the company will move forward with a plan to construct two additional buildings, each 42 floors high, which will include offices, residences, hotels and extensive commercial areas, as well as two sports halls for the Tel Aviv Municipality.