Bar Works
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Founded | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 47W 39TH St, New York , USA (Closed June 2017) |
| Services | Coworking space, Shared office, Virtual office |
| Website | barworks |
Bar Works was a New York City company that provided shared office space in a former bar and restaurant premises. For $25,000, investors could buy desks at Bar Works locations and then lease them back to the company. It has been noted that elements of the investment program are akin to a Ponzi scheme.[1][2]
Bar Works is now defunct and its founder, Renwick Haddow, has been arrested and charged.[3]
The first Bar Works venue, at 47 West 39th Street, was opened at the end of October 2015 and had 200 work units, plus meeting and networking areas. Though superficially a shared office space, the venue was dependent on the coffee bar operating inside for revenue. Following the coffee bar's decision to pull out of the space, Bar Works announced in June 2017 that the location would be shutting down due to difficulties in otherwise generating business.[4]
The second location in Manhattan’s Times Square opened for business in February 2016. The Times Square space occupied 4,500 square foot with a capacity for 300 people.[5] It shut down in early 2017 following difficulties attracting a steady client base.
In June 2016, Bar Works announced plans to open a 6,000 sq ft co-working space at Jack's Restaurant in San Francisco after acquiring the freehold to the second oldest restaurant in the city. In May 2017 it was announced that the building would be converted from a co-working space into a restaurant unaffiliated with Bar Works.[6] In January of 2017, Bar Works also attempted to open a location in Wynwood, Miami. All the physical infrastructure was finished, including three large murals on the building, before it closed down within two months of opening.