Brooklyn coworking operator marks 12 years in business after expanding independently to seven neighborhood locations without outside capital
Photo Courtesy of: Work Heights
NEW YORK, Sept. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Work Heights announced that it is marking its 12th anniversary in 2026, reaching the milestone with seven coworking locations across Brooklyn after more than a decade of independently financed growth. Founded by Sam Strauss-Malcolm in Crown Heights in 2014, the company has expanded without outside investment or institutional ownership while building a network that now serves members across Williamsburg, Boerum Hill, Bed-Stuy, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and Crown Heights.
The 12-year milestone comes during a period of continued change in the coworking industry, where large, venture-backed operators have faced restructurings, location closures, and pressure to reassess the growth-at-all-costs model that once defined the sector.
Work Heights took a different path. Rather than raising outside capital to accelerate expansion, the company says it opened new locations incrementally and only when the economics supported the move.
“Not taking outside money was the best decision I never got credit for,” said Strauss-Malcolm, owner of Work Heights. “It kept us honest. Every location had to work on its own, because there was no war chest to paper over a bad one.”
Today, Work Heights operates seven Brooklyn coworking locations under a single network. One membership provides 24/7 access across all seven sites, allowing members to work from different neighborhoods depending on where their schedules take them.
The company says its membership base is built primarily around freelancers, remote workers, founders, and small teams rather than large enterprise tenants. Strauss-Malcolm says Work Heights remains profitable and that membership has been sustained in large part through repeat customers and referrals.
“The company has organically grown by word of mouth, pretty much since I started it,” he said.
Work Heights’ locations include shared workspaces, private offices, dedicated desks, hot desks, conference rooms, call areas, and other amenities geared toward independent professionals and smaller teams. Podcast booths are available at its Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy, and Crown Heights locations, while six locations include outdoor backyard space. All seven locations are dog-friendly.
The company’s Brooklyn-wide membership model has also become a distinguishing part of the network. Members can use any Work Heights location rather than maintaining separate memberships for different neighborhoods, giving someone based in Crown Heights, for example, the ability to work from Williamsburg or Boerum Hill when meetings or other commitments bring them across the borough. Work Heights confirms that all members receive 24/7 access to its seven-location network.
For Strauss-Malcolm, the anniversary represents more than longevity. It demonstrates that a locally focused coworking operator can grow without adopting the venture-capital model that dominated much of the sector during the 2010s.
“The stronger framing is the contrast between a business built through steady bootstrap growth and the venture-backed hyperscale model that came to define the category through WeWork,” Strauss-Malcolm said.
As Work Heights enters its 13th year, the company says its focus remains on its Brooklyn network and the members it was originally designed to serve rather than pursuing national expansion.
The milestone underscores the strategy that has shaped the company since 2014: remain independent, grow selectively, and build density within the neighborhoods it knows.
About Work Heights
Work Heights is a Brooklyn-based coworking company with seven locations across Williamsburg, Boerum Hill, Bed-Stuy, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and Crown Heights. Founded in 2014 in Crown Heights, the independently owned company provides coworking spaces for freelancers, remote workers, founders, individuals, and small teams.
Work Heights offers 24/7 member access, private offices, dedicated desks, hot desks, conference rooms, podcast booths, and dog-friendly workspaces. One membership provides access to all seven neighborhood locations.
For more information, visit workheights.com.
Company: Work Heights
Website: www.WorkHeights.com
Email: [email protected]
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/369adfae-0ea9-44e6-be5e-f02e70cfe882
