Benjamin Dyatt
GWA Member Grind has announced an initiative designed to connect with New York City’s tech community by opening a coworking space at Verizon’s landmark building at 140 West Street in lower Manhattan, across from One World Trade Center.
With a focus on capturing a target audience of start-ups and entrepreneurs, mentorship will be provided through Verizon Ventures, the venture capital arm of the company. Verizon has a history of entrepreneur empowerment through The Powerful Answers Award program, which has issued $16 million in awards to date with $6 million more to be awarded later this year.
As part of the initiative, Verizon will convert 10,000 square feet of an underutilized floor at its iconic, former headquarters building. The space will connect the coworking community to Verizon’s advanced Internet services and provide a platform for modern work in the legacy, Art Deco structure. The space will be operational in early 2016.
“With a rapidly growing tech sector in New York City, and a desire by those firms for high-speed connectivity, reliability and stability, our building will be getting new life as a center of innovation and collaboration,” said John Vazquez, Verizon’s senior vice president for Global Real Estate.
The space is being designed by Gensler, a leading architecture and design firm. “Grind is excited to form this collaborative partnership with Verizon to create a coworking location that will align with Grind’s mission to shape the future of work,” said Grind co-founder Benjamin Dyett. “Grind’s friction-free business model, premium aesthetic, and culture of innovation combined with Verizon’s technology and real estate expertise will deliver a powerful workplace experience to users of the space.”
“We expect this location – and possibly others across the country – will be a dynamic work environment where start-up and creative entrepreneurs can form vibrant interdisciplinary communities geared toward collaboration and innovation,” said Vazquez.
Members will have access to Verizon’s high speed broadband and other platform technologies to boost their development opportunities. The space will include open workspace, team rooms, conference rooms, and meeting spaces, to accommodate around 120 people per day.
