CNBC.com – Sept 18, 2014

By Phil Torre | September 29, 2014

CONTACT: Erin Murphy
Ruby Media Group
[email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Harbor Group International adds Serendipity Labs® Coworking and Conference Center at One South Wacker Office Tower in Chicago
Shared Workplace, Raises Bar for Office Building Amenities for Corporate Workforce

Chicago, IL – September 18, 2014 – As part of a dramatic repositioning of its acquisition of its 1.2mm square foot office building at One South Wacker Drive in Chicago, an affiliate of Harbor Group International, LLC has signed New York’s Serendipity Labs (https://www.serendipitylabs.com) to open and manage a 30,000 square foot coworking lounge and conference center on the Mezzanine level and second floor of One South Wacker Drive. One South Wacker is the first, Class A Chicago office building to incorporate a full-service shared workspace and conference center as an amenity to tenants and the public. Serendipity Labs offers workplace memberships as a lifestyle hospitality brand experience for corporate professionals, independent workers, and project teams. Serendipity Labs will operate the One South Wacker location in partnership with Hospitality Ventures Management Group, a leading hotel management and development firm that operates 42 hotels coast to coast.

The workplace design includes an open coworking lounge available to building tenants and members, a labcafe, private offices, dedicated workstations, ideation studios and meet-up rooms, allowing members to choose how they will work depending on what they need to get done at any given time. The conference center will accommodate meetings and events for of up to 100 attendees. Technology-rich meeting spaces will be equipped with collaboration tools and HD monitors. Workplace membership plans range from mobility plans offering 5 or 10 day-access to full time dedicated private offices and team rooms. Day passes are also available. All of these offerings serve increasingly mobile, independent professionals and project teams.

“Serendipity Labs’ design and corporate appeal fit in with the repositioning of One South Wacker and will offer another market-leading amenity that complements our renovation of the building,” said Jim Vallos, Managing Director of Harbor Group International. “We are very excited to bring Serendipity Labs to Chicago. This new generation of workplace amenities will enhance our tenants’ ability to attract and retain top talent.”

One South Wacker is a 40 story, 1.2mm sf office tower located in the heart of the West Loop at South Wacker Drive and Madison Avenue, within steps of major transportation hubs including Union Station, CTA, and the Ogilvie Transportation Center. The building renovation includes the addition of a high-end 8,000 SF fitness club, a complete renovation of the lobby and exterior plaza and modernization of key building systems.

“Our relationship with Harbor Group International is an example of how modern workplace amenities can add value to office building assets, while enhancing the quality of life for tenants and their employees,” said John Arenas, CEO of Serendipity Labs.

The coworking lounge and conference center are scheduled for opening October 15th. For more information on hosting your corporate meeting or to get special pre-opening offers for Serendipity Labs memberships, please contact Kate at Serendipity Labs at (800) 226.3678 or visit us at https://serendipitylabs.com/us/il/chicago-loop/
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About Serendipity Labs, Inc. Serendipity Labs, Inc. (https://www.serendipitylabs.com) is leading the way in delivering high performance corporate coworking venues supported by its cloud-based, enterprise class, service delivery platform OASIS®. Serendipity Labs is growing through owned, managed and franchised locations in office buildings, high rise residential projects and hotel properties across the US. In addition to Chicago, Serendipity Labs recently announced franchise development partners for locations in Florida, New Jersey and New York for a total of 34 locations in development.

About OSW
One South Wacker is a 40-story, 1.195-msf office building located at the corner of Madison Street and Wacker Drive in Chicago’s prestigious West Loop submarket. Amenities include a 135-car parking garage, fitness center, bike storage room, casual dining, the well-known Lloyd’s restaurant, a bank, retail shop and convenience store. The building has three distinctive floor plans due to the tiered setback design, which allows the building to cater to full-floor tenants of varying sizes. https://www.onesouthwacker.net

About Harbor Group International, LLC
Harbor Group International, LLC is a private real estate investment and management firm which controls a portfolio of worldwide assets valued at approximately $3.6 billion. HGI is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia with offices in New York and Tel Aviv. The company’s real estate holdings include approximately 7.4 million square feet of commercial properties and approximately 24,500 apartment units. For additional information, please visit www.harborgroupint.com.

About Hospitality Ventures Management Group, LLC Hospitality Ventures Management Group is a privately owned, fully-integrated hotel ownership and management group that specializes in turning around and repositioning underperforming hotels as well as adding value to stabilized hotels. It currently operates 42 hotels in 17 states (coast to coast) totaling 7,619 guest rooms. HVMG operates independent and boutique hotels, resorts, and full-service, select service and extended stay branded hotels under the Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Starwood and IHG brands. Visit https://www.hvmg.com for more information.