Good Ideas Translate

When we started about seven years ago, our plan was “We everything”: WeWork, WeRestaurant, WeBarber, WeResort. We started with WeWork because the only buildings co-founder Adam Neumann and I were able to get were office buildings. The response was so positive we kept going. The WeLive building at 110 Wall St. was sort of knocked out by Hurricane Sandy. We had a relationship with someone, and they said, “Are you guys interested?” When we saw it, we were like, “Yeah, we’re interested, but we have this other concept we’ve been planning.”

A lot of things we’ve done at WeWork carry over to WeLive—the primary one being trying to understand how people can have the personal space they need but share. It’s sharing that goes beyond the space, that flows into people’s social engagement. It’s about trying to make those opportunities part of daily life.

Let’s say there’s someone who’s 35, and she’s successful, but she’s like, “I’m ready to make the leap to start my own company.” We want to give her a workspace and a living solution that allows her to take that chance and to be supported by people who are going to be like, “That’s amazing! What do you need help with? Who can I introduce you to?” Being in that environment is definitely going to help you become more successful.

In the office, what we start with is relatively simple. You have a desk, chairs, and lighting. In an apartment, of course, you need a living room, a kitchen, a sleeping area, a bathroom. We had to figure out a way to create those spaces in our 200 units and give them enough character that they feel nice and comfortable and warm and inviting. But we didn’t want to go too far with the design that they felt particular. We didn’t want someone to go in and say, “Oh, I hate that color. I don’t want to be in that unit.” So that was the nuance to the WeLive design.

We had arguments about whether people would do their laundry in the building, because there are all these new services where you can have your laundry picked up. That was one where it was back and forth. Like, what’s going to happen? Is it going to be an empty room, and no one is ever going to be in there, and it’s going to become a total failure? So far, it’s been great. We have a cool laundry room that also has a pool table and a pingpong table. It’s become one of the beating hearts of the building.