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WeWork founder Adam Neumann’s latest startup Flow planning on spending $300M to redevelop former Miami ‘tent city’

Adam Neumann’s real estate startup Flow Global is reportedly planning on building $300 million in Miami developments amid its attempts to gain control of WeWork.

Flow’s Miami blueprints include rental apartments, retail space and small offices in what was once considered a tent city for the homeless, according to a preliminary document filed March 11 on MuniOS, an online repository for municipal offerings, obtained by Bloomberg.

A spokesperson for Flow confirmed the venture to Bloomberg as part of the Miami Worldcenter, an urban mixed-use redevelopment project that spans 20-plus acres, multiple city blocks and several developers.

The office and retail space is expected to be completed by 2025, and the developer is “in the process of submitting an application to obtain site plan approval for its current development plan,” the court document says, per Bloomberg.

The projects associated with Miami Worldcenter — which is raising some $240 million through a municipal bond sale — are being developed by 166 2nd Financial Services, the family office of Neumann and his wife, according to the 800-page filing on Municipal Bond Offerings service MuniOS.

WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann’s latest venture, Flow, is reportedly planning on building a multimillion-dollar mixed-use development in Miami. FilmMagic

However, a spokesperson for Flow disputed this, telling Bloomberg in a statement that “any references that anyone falsely made to Adam, Rebekah or their family office are provably incorrect.”

A spokesman for the Miami Worldcenter has since said that the document would be updated to reflect Flow’s ownership stake, though it wasn’t immediately clear what that figure could be.

The Post has sought comment from Neumann and Miami Worldcenter, which is expected to price March 26, according to the investor roadshow document reviewed by Bloomberg.

The development, called Miami Worldcenter, is set to include rental apartments, retail space and small offices in what was once considered tent city for the homeless. Getty Images

The involvement of firms linked to Neumann in Miami Worldcenter dates back to at least 2021, according to the document, when Flow first landed financing to go towards building the second phase of a 44-story luxury residential tower called the Caoba.

As of December, 95% of Caoba’s 444 units were occupied, according to Bloomberg.

Along with the developers of the original Caoba tower, Florida-based Falcone Group and Merrimac Ventures, Flow is reportedly building another 41-story apartment tower right next door that will welcome residents later this year, Bloomberg reported.

Neumann was ousted as WeWork’s CEO in 2019 over reports about his outlandish behavior. Visual China Group via Getty Ima

Come 2025, the upcoming building’s residents will enjoy 19,000 square feet of retail space and 40,000 square feet of office space just across the street.

The buildings could collectively be worth around $300 million, according to an estimate by Concord Group, a real estate consulting firm, which was included in the document and earlier reported on by Bloomberg.

To date, Neumann has raised more for Flow, which he founded after his unceremonious ousting as WeWork CEO in 2019 over reports about his outlandish behavior, which included leaving a wad of marijuana stuffed in a cereal box on a borrowed private plane as well as staff meetings where the tequila was flowing.

Neumann, 44, has already raised $350 million from the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz for his new startup, which he’s also using as the entity to scoop up bankrupt WeWork.

In a letter sent to WeWork’s advisers last month, Flow is seeking to get additional capital from hedge fund titan Dan Loeb to buy the embattled co-working giant or its assets, as well as provide bankruptcy financing.

WeWork filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2023. The startup, once valued at $47 billion and operating more than 850 co-working locations, now boasts just 630 global offices, according to its website. AFP via Getty Images

It’s not a new quest. Flow’s counsel — including power lawyer Alex Spiro, who also represents Elon Musk and Kanye West — accused WeWork’s advisers of a “lack of engagement even to provide information to my clients in what is intended to be a value-maximizing transaction for all stakeholders.”

Spiro said that Neumann and affiliates of latest venture have worked since December 2023 “to obtain information necessary for an offer to purchase the company or its assets,” though “they still do not have access to that information.”

Even before that, Neumann has made a years-long attempt to invest in the embattled firm, though its subsequent CEO canceled a scheduled meeting with Neumann, where he was expected to share his plans for “a substantial equity infusion that would have helped the company,” Spiro wrote.

But the company’s then-chief, Sandeep Mathrani, “shut down that process without explanation,” according to the letter.



This story originally appeared on
NYPost

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