January 5, 2022
Thank you.
When I started Remote.ly, it was to solve a need for quality workspace that I had felt countless times as a remote worker in the Portland area. This need evolved into the Remote.ly that we experience today – a place where a community of students, professionals, and more, welcome & support each other in a productivity-focused environment. What started as a 2-floor endeavor, turned into a 5-floor, 21,000 square feet refuge for over 3,240 happy customers who needed high quality co-working, meeting, and event space here in Portland.
The Remote.ly aesthetic & amenities, coupled alongside stellar customer service, attracted ever-larger tenants as we expanded over the last few years. Enter Brandlive – our tenant on floor 2. We delivered a custom office for their team of 18 (at the time) in Winter of 2020. As a live video software platform, Brandlive captured the opportunity that COVID-19 presented and scaled their business dramatically. After landing a $17.5MM funding round and expanding into another 5,500 SF of space here at Remote.ly to accommodate their growing team of 100+, it became clear that Brandlive would soon need more space than we could offer. After a few months of negotiations, an agreement was worked out where Brandlive will assume full control of the Remote.ly space and in-turn, Remote.ly will cease public operations as of 12/31/21.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, over 40% of local co-working offices closed permanently while Remote.ly experienced an 89% increase in revenue. In this way, it feels unsettling for Remote.ly to cease its public operations & become Brandlive’s private headquarters, especially when considering the increased need for workspace that the ever-growing remote workforce presents.
However, the optimistic elements of our situation are countered by the realities that COVID created. Unpredictable demand plus the ever-present worry of potentially exposing our community to mutating COVID strains left us in a difficult position – do we continue to operate as-is and hope that the pandemic is fully over in X months? Or do we proceed with this new route before fully realizing our mission of helping others to achieve the American Dream? I made the decision to proceed with the agreement because the next 1-2 years present too many variables that are outside of our control and the terms of the agreement were favorable for all parties involved.
So what’s next for the Remote.ly team? We’ll continue our roles through 12/31/21 as we wind down Remote.ly’s public operations & coordinate move-outs with our tenants. Come 2022 and beyond, our team will become part of the Brandlive team. For myself, a relaxed Summer of recovery & self-care is coming to a close, just in time to begin my new position as Director of Sales on the Brandlive team.
For those that feel disheartened by this announcement – we hear you. Bringing the Remote.ly community to an end was the hardest part of the decision we faced, and it took months to come to this decision.
To our members, whether you’ve been around for years or have just joined the community, you are as much a part of the Remote.ly community as we are - thank you for making it special. To our wonderful vendors & partners who have kept us operating through many ups and downs - thank you for helping us put our best foot forward. To our corporate clients who booked meeting & event space and our Skyrise event venue clients who made countless memories – thank you for taking part in the Remote.ly + Skyrise journey and appreciating what we built for you.
With love & appreciation,
