Plexpod Westport closing Feb. 29; offices to remain but under new management, branding

The spacious classrooms-turned-offices retrofitted for large startup teams at a site once billed as the world’s largest coworking space never regained their pre-pandemic demand, said Gerald Smith, confirming the sudden closing of a Plexpod location that for years epitomized Kansas City innovation culture.

Park 39 campus aerial with Plexpod Westport (soon The Offices at Park 39) in the foreground; photo courtesy of Park 39

“We so wanted Plexpod Westport to be the center of the universe for all-things entrepreneurship in Kansas City, but unfortunately COVID proved to be a challenge much greater than we were able to recoup at that location,” Smith, founder of Plexpod, told Startland News.

Businesses and organizations officing at Plexpod Westport (also branded as Plexpod at Park 39) on Tuesday received a notice from the property owner of the Westport campus informing them Plexpod would cease operations at the site Feb. 29.

HP Development Partners — which is in the midst of a $250 million development project on the broader Park 39 campus — is assuming all sub-lease agreements March 1 and plans to offer office space under the branding The Offices at Park 39. All existing lease agreements are expected to be honored with the transition, the site’s new property managers said.

Serial entrepreneur Andrew Brain is leading the development of Park 39 with Chip Walsh of Sustainable Development Partners and Mercier Street, a boutique development consulting firm. Brain also is CEO of Brain Group, which owns the property and is managing The Offices at Park 39 under S&B Ventures.

“We’d been working for six months or more on a lease renewal without any substantive progress, so in the best interests of our tenants, we decided to go independent,” said Brain, who noted Plexpod’s lease at Wesport expired at the end of January. “We’re looking forward to a smooth transition with as few hiccups as possible. The only thing that really changes is tenants won’t be able to access the broader Plexpod network.”

Tenants are currently being onboarded to a new portal for paying memberships/rent, he added.

The Offices at Park 39 is expected to continue offering the same on-site amenities as Plexpod Westport with space improvements planned campus-wide, Brain said. He teased a general refresh and upgrade that will involve updates to conference rooms, technology and hospitality features, as well as upgraded landscaping. A staffed reception desk also is expected to return to the site, he said, noting interviews for receptionists already are underway.

RELATED: Why developers say folding Plexpod Westport site into Park 39 unifies $230M project

A large classroom office space at Plexpod Westport shortly after its opening in 2017; photo by Bobby Burch, Startland News

Unlike other Plexpod locations that have all returned to and even surpassed pre-pandemic levels — excluding a River Market location that closed in fall 2021 — Westport was unable to rebound in the same way, Smith said.

“It was all of the big spaces on the upper floors that were outfitted for companies of 40, 60, and 80 people that we just could not replace following the pandemic,” he said. “Those spaces will now need to transition to traditional leases, and that is not the business we are in.”

Brain Group, which took over leasing of the property in November 2022, Brain said, has secured two large, multi-classroom leases, with more larger user deals in the pipeline.

“Coworking and flexible office communities have their own way of marketing spaces,” he said. “Because they’re smaller, they typically eschew the traditional brokerage community — but that’s where Brain Group operates. We believe there’s a marriage between those two — working with traditional brokers to fill larger spaces and at the same time working directly with consumers on smaller spaces.”

Smith said he wishes the property owner the best with its plan to continue offering offices at Westport.

“Going forward, our priority is to accommodate those companies wishing to stay at that location, as well as helping the many others that have chosen to move to one of our other locations,” Smith said. “We have been overwhelmed by the support we have felt in the community and we are evermore Kansas City proud.”

Plexpod continues to offer space and coworking amenities at its Downtown at Flashcube, Crossroads, and Lenexa sites.

The brand plans to announce a new location in Johnson County in the weeks ahead, Smith said, along with a project with a national partner that offers Plexpod significant expansion opportunities.

Brett McCracken, McCracken and Associates, speaks at Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City, alongside fellow panelists, Chancellor Adams, Chancellor’s Promise; Max Sheffield-Baird, Max Wilde Stories; and Vu Radley, MADE MOBB; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News

More than coworking

Plexpod Westport Commons debuted in 2017 after Smith partnered with Kansas City Sustainable Development Partners — led by Bob Berkebile, founding principal of BNIM Architecture, and David Brain, a longtime real estate investment executive — to turn the 160,000 square-foot Westport Middle School and its annex into a coworking space.

Coworkers gathered in the Medallion Theater for International Coworking Day in August 2017; photo by Bobby Burch, Startland News

In August 2017, the now-defunct KC Coworking Alliance set a world record for the largest single gathering of coworkers within Plexpod Westport’s Medallion Theater.

With its abundant event spaces and plentiful on-site parking, the location became home to conferences, church services, weddings, concerts, civic events like mayoral candidate debates and the State of the City address, and large-scale, recurring startup events like Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City and 1 Million Cups.

1 Million Cups Kansas City organizers said Wednesday they had not yet made a decision on whether to stay at The Offices at Park 39 or relocate the weekly entrepreneur pitch event.

GEWKC most recently returned to Plexpod Westport in November, offering a weeklong event series at the venue.

Dr. DeAngela Burns-Wallace, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, speaks during ESO Day at Plexpod Westport at Park 39 amid Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

“GEW is truly an amazing thing for Kansas City, our local startup community, and even the global startup community,” said Smith. “We are so fortunate to have the Kauffman Foundation (which launched both GEW and 1MC) in our ecosystem. And we have been so fortunate to participate in GEW’s success by hosting the event several times.”

“The Westport location will continue to have amazing event space and our hope is that the landlord there will continue to offer those spaces for events like GEW. And I expect they will,” he added.

Smith noted Kansas City boasts numerous efforts across the city to support entrepreneurship, but acknowledged many organizations don’t recognize they are essentially competing and unknowingly hinder one another’s efforts. 

“I would encourage all ESO organizations in the metro to consider creating stronger partnerships whereby there is shared support and more coordinated efforts that will truly benefit the startup community,” Smith said. “We are so grateful for all the community partners we have at Plexpod that use our facilities regularly offering programming, support, and expertise to those entrepreneurs who truly benefit. We believe we are a small part of a much bigger story that is being written, and we can’t wait to see where it leads.”

Plexpod founder Gerald Smith pictured at Plexpod Westport Commons in 2017; photo by Bobby Burch, Startland News

Startup community in its DNA

Aside from challenges specific to Plexpod Westport, the transition to hybrid work setups actually has trended in Plexpod’s favor, Smith said

“For example, meeting room bookings have been through the roof since the pandemic,” he said. “All of those work-from-home companies still want to meet in person each week and Plexpod is a great option for them to book meeting rooms for their teams to gather.”

“We also saw an increase from those companies that allow employees to work-from-home, but also want to offer their employees Plexpod memberships as an option for them to get out of the house and be around other professionals, and get away from the pressures they experience at home, like the laundry and the kids, etc.,” Smith continued. “It is no doubt a new day for working professionals which opens up all types of opportunities for coworking services.”

Click here to explore options for meeting rooms, hot desks and private offices at Plexpod.

The startup community and its spirit of innovation remains in Plexpod’s DNA, he said.

“Our goal is to maintain a low barrier-to-entry for those founders that can benefit so much from being around other founders and especially by watching other companies that might be a few years ahead of them, even learning from their mistakes. And, right now that includes Plexpod!” Smith said. “The shared office experience can be a tremendous benefit to everyone. I am always amazed by the work that is being done by the soloprenuers and small companies at each Plexpod location. Those companies are the future of Kansas City and we are grateful they chose Plexpod to launch their big idea.”