Bond Collective at 295 Front Street is a masterclass in mismanagement, nepotism and mediocrity.
This space has plummeted in quality since the competent staff was inexplicably let go. The current team is indifferent and rude at best and outright negligent at worst—more interested in chatting among themselves than addressing real tenant concerns. What was once a decent co-working space has devolved into a joke—run by lazy, unqualified staff who clock out (mentally and often literally) by 4PM, ignore tenant concerns, and enforce rules they don’t follow themselves.
Here’s what you can expect:
* A growing ant problem in offices, phone booths, and common areas, met with complete indifference. Mention it, and you’ll be treated like you’re the nuisance. Still not addressed.
* Unreliable WiFi, dropping during meetings and calls. You’re better off tethering to your phone.
* Obnoxious, unwanted music playing in common areas—something no one asked for and multiple tenants specifically objected to. Management claimed there’d be a vote (never happened), and said it wouldn’t be audible in offices (it is, and also in conference rooms). Want to take a quiet call in a phone booth? Be prepared to have music in the background the entire time (along with the ants). It’s beyond distracting; it is disrespectful.
* Staff hypocrisy, rudeness and laziness. They tell you not to take calls in the common areas, then turn around and take loud personal calls there themselves. Ask for help or flag an issue? Good luck. Most problems are met with shrugs or outright ignored—and when regional management does engage, there is an unnecessarily combative tone. But when disrespected and I respond with a matter of fact tone, I’m told to be polite. When I merely asked about the process to leave, I was condescendingly told to refer to my agreement and given an end date I did not ask for. All because of a simply asked question.
I changed our WFH policy for my employees to allow for more WFH days due to the mere dysfunction of the space. It’s truly a sad decline because we were at Bond Collective at 55 Broadway for years and absolutely loved it; had no issues over there whatsoever. Bond Collective has become a textbook case of what happens when small-minded, underqualified people are handed the keys to something aspirational. They’ve gutted whatever dignity the space once had and replaced it with dollar-store theatrics and a staff that seems personally offended by the concept of doing their jobs.
To wrap, should also share that the new regional manager responsible for the space’s demise is the brother of the new chief revenue officer of the company. And the lack of honesty & accountability in the experience is structurally a problem as the siblings are now taking up for and protecting each other in truly dishonest, and gaslighting ways.
Do yourself a favor: don’t fall for the aesthetic. You’ll get better service and more peace of mind in a Starbucks (and likely no ants!) And you’ll get more respect from the homeless man on a 3am subway ride.