You make some interesting points, but owning the bulk of their real estate is not a viable strategy for We Work.

• Real estate is very capital intensive and the expected returns are lower than VC capital. Owning real estate would make them unattractive to VC investors and actually lower their valuation.
• WeWorks leases only a fraction of the space in most of their buildings, so they would have to buy 5 to 10 times the amount of space that they lease to own the building. Being a landlord would become their primary business.
• I don’t see how they are creating value for the property owner. Their improvements will be dated and will need to be replaced by the time their lease runs out. Having WeWork as a tenant decreases the attractiveness of your building, because they have much higher density than a normal tenant. This clogs (literally) bathrooms and elevators and creates congestion in the building.