The Malin CEO Ciarán McGuigan Taps a Landlord to Grow His Coworking Chain

Ciarán McGuigan’s coworking company borrows from one of its own landlords. That landlord has “backed the brand since day one,” the founder and CEO of The Malin tells Observer, though most of the money for expansion comes from operating cash flow. The Malin has raised $6.8 million over four and a half years, he says, and he remains the majority shareholder.

McGuigan says The Malin is cash-flow positive, and his team puts first-half 2026 revenue at $13.4 million, up 68 percent from a year earlier. The company has 12 locations open and, he says, roughly 11 more under construction.

The Malin’s first location, a third-floor SoHo loft that opened in 2021, shared what it made with its landlord. “The landlord provided the space, so we don’t pay rent,” McGuigan told The Irish Times on Dec. 4, 2021. In June, he signed a 15-year lease for 19,400 square feet at 10 Astor Place, a full floor scheduled to open in early 2027, while some members commit month to month. “We underwrite it much like a good hotel,” he says. “You don’t need every guest to stay for years; you need to give people a reason to keep coming back.”

The Malin now operates across Manhattan and Brooklyn and in Nashville, Austin, Savannah and Washington, D.C., and its first Boston location opened Oct. 5 with 20,000 square feet in the Seaport. Its West Village workspace sits in the former Charles Street studio of the late artist Jennifer Bartlett, where some of her original works stayed. In Austin, McGuigan has subleased the 30th floor of Sixth and Guadalupe, a downtown tower Meta leased but never moved into, for a second outpost there.

McGuigan says private offices, typically on 12-month terms, make up roughly 45 percent of revenue, with dedicated desks, access memberships, meeting rooms, event rentals and day use accounting for the rest. His model targets a 30 percent margin after rent, payroll, operating costs and build-out amortization, and some new workspaces open with enterprise suites of up to $60,000 a month already signed, he says.

McGuigan, a former professional soccer player and Savannah College of Art and Design graduate, is also creative director of Orior, the furniture company his parents founded in Newry, Northern Ireland. He answered Observer’s questions about how the workspaces pay for themselves, who finances the next opening and what he is willing to give up to grow.

This written Q&A has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Observer: You started The Malin with one SoHo location. What had to be true economically before you felt comfortable multiplying that footprint?

Ciarán McGuigan: SoHo had to stand on its own first. We initially forwent our portion of the revenue split with the landlord until it performed adequately. Even then we didn’t rush. We opened Williamsburg before expanding SoHo, and we went where members were already asking us to go. Every location since has had to earn its place the same way: proven demand, a strong landlord partnership and a space we know we can fill.

What does a mature location look like financially after rent, payroll, operating costs and build-out amortization?

Our model targets a 30 percent margin on revenue after rent, payroll, operating costs and build-out amortization.

How long does a new location typically take to break even?

Typically two to three months, and a few of our locations have opened at break-even. That speed comes from opening with demand already in place. We have a waitlist in New York, existing members who follow us into new neighborhoods and enterprise suites of up to $60,000 a month that are signed before opening. We don’t open a location and hope it fills. We open when we know it will.

At Astor Place, you’ve signed a 15-year lease while offering some memberships month to month. How do you underwrite that mismatch?

We underwrite it much like a good hotel. You don’t need every guest to stay for years; you need to give people a reason to keep coming back. That flexibility is part of what our members value. We’re confident in the long-term demand for flexible workspace, and when we find the right building in the right neighborhood, taking a lease makes commercial sense for us. It can also be more profitable than a management deal.

How does revenue break down between private offices, memberships and on-demand bookings?

Private offices are real estate-style revenue, typically on 12-month terms with 90 days to renew, and they make up roughly 45 percent of revenue. They have consistently been at or near full occupancy across the portfolio.

Dedicated desks and access memberships work like a gym membership.

On-demand bookings work more like a hotel: meeting rooms, event rentals and day use, booked by the hour or the day, at around 25 to 30 percent. That mix means we’re not overly reliant on any one model, and it gives us a base of 12-month licenses with largely creditworthy members.

Does your connection to Orior give The Malin a cost advantage in furnishing and building out its spaces?

Orior has no procurement relationship with The Malin. I’m the creative director of Orior through a family connection, but the two businesses don’t transact. The partner behind our vertical stack is Ardor, an Irish project management, procurement and installation company led by my sister Katie Ann McGuigan. Ardor manufactures in Ireland and installs through its U.S. team, and both The Malin and our landlord partners contract with Ardor directly. That integration is what lets us control quality, cost and timelines.

How are you financing expansion—through operating cash flow, equity, debt, landlord contributions or a mix?

Mainly through operating cash flow. We reinvest what our existing locations generate into new properties. Our debt provider is one of our landlords, who has backed the brand since day one.

How much capital have you raised, and how much of the company do you still own?

We’ve raised $6.8 million in total in four and a half years. In that time we’ve opened 12 locations, with around 11 more in construction. I’m the majority shareholder, and our other shareholders are mainly a mix of U.S. and Irish investors. We regularly talk with potential equity partners, but we’re selective about timing and fit. Majority ownership gives us the freedom to grow intentionally rather than on someone else’s timeline.

Is The Malin cash-flow positive?

Yes, The Malin is cash-flow positive. That’s what lets us fund growth mostly from our own operations.

Which market has surprised you most, and what did it teach you?

Austin. East Austin grew faster than we ever expected, and that momentum let us sign a lease in another major building in the city. That’s a real milestone for a market that was only our second new city, after Nashville.

And Nashville had a softer start, and it taught us something important: We perform best in live, work, play neighborhoods. Also, in secondary cities, people have to get used to a world-class workspace. When they walk in, they’re not sure what we are. Is it a hotel? A members’ club? No, it’s actually an office, just one designed around how people want to feel at work. Once people understand that, demand follows. Austin showed us how quickly that can happen.

Beyond the furniture and food, what does hospitality mean in an office—and how do you maintain it as you expand?

It means designing for how people feel, not just what they see. Hospitality doesn’t scale by becoming less personal. It scales by hiring people who genuinely care. Members remember how they were welcomed, and that they feel entitled to ask the staff for help and get their problems solved. That’s why we keep our venues intimate and why we obsess over the details. I’m on the ground with my team, showing what exceptional service looks like. And the product improves from one location to the next, because we learn from every opening.

Five years from now, what would tell you that The Malin had successfully scaled, rather than simply gotten bigger?

The newest Malin has to feel as thoughtful and personal as the first one in SoHo. If members in every city feel that same sense of welcome, and every location still earns its place on its own merits, then we’ll have scaled. Getting bigger is easy if you’re willing to compromise. Our discipline has always been to grow only as fast as we can keep the experience exceptional, and that won’t change.