Business Journal: WeWork Opening; Macy's Looking For Ideas; Old Sac Gets Escape Room; Food Truck Adds Brick And Mortar

WeWork Expanding To Sacramento

Sacramento's office startup scene is expanding. An international chain of co-working spaces has announced plans for its first Sacramento site. New York City-based WeWork will fill two floors in Wells Fargo Center, a 30-story office building on Capitol Mall downtown. The Sacramento Business Journal's Sonya Sorich says WeWork will occupy 45,000 square feet on the fourth and fifth floors this fall.

"Apparently, the thriving local coworking scene was part of what attracted WeWork to Sacramento,” says Sorich. “And it's worth noting that another major coworking chain, Spaces, has signed a lease for 35,000 square feet in midtown Sacramento's Ice Blocks project. It seems like the demand for these spaces is only growing."

Like Hacker Lab and other locally-owned co-working spaces, WeWork locations generally offer office suites, work stations, private offices, meeting rooms and lounge areas. A variety of clients use WeWork spaces, ranging from startup firms to full business enterprises.

Macy’s Looking To Develop Mall Parcels

Retail giant Macy's wants to do something with property it owns at two Sacramento area shopping malls. It's looking for development partners. Sorich says the malls are the Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento and the Westfield Galleria at Roseville.

"In both cases, the property is currently used for parking,” says Sorich. “Those properties are being listed as ground lease or build-to-suit opportunities,” says Sorich. “Macy's has two potential sites for development at Arden Fair. Just one parcel is available in Roseville."

Beyond the listings for the properties, Macy's hasn't revealed what kinds of development it's considering. Retail analysts say it's another sign of how department store chains are looking for new opportunities amid changes to traditional brick-and-mortar retail.

Old Sacramento Getting Escape Room

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership this week confirmed it has picked a location for NEO Escape Rooms, last year's winner of the "Calling All Dreamers" contest, the competition that helps entrepreneurs open a retail business. Sorich says the site is in Old Sacramento on Second Street, along the waterfront.

"This is actually the second consecutive winner to open in the area,” says Sorich. “Last year's winner, a locally owned business that serves presidential-themed milkshakes, also opened on the Old Sacramento Waterfront. And a few years back, a children's clothing boutique won the competition and opened in Old Sacramento, but later closed."

NEO Escape Rooms could debut in October. At escape rooms, customers are locked in a room and must solve puzzles to escape in a designated amount of time, usually an hour.

Food Truck Opening Brick-And-Mortar

This week's big food news headline is that the popular Culinerdy Cruzer food truck is opening a brick-and-mortar location downtown.

“It'll be across from the La Valentina apartment and retail project, and is expected to open June 1,” says Sorich. “The restaurant, called Culinerdy Kitchen, will fill a space previously occupied by Margarita Village.”

Culinerdy is known for its innovative take on a variety of comfort foods. The business still plans to use its food truck, but only for special occasions, such as catered events.