Focus Commercial Property Executive – March 30 WeWork’s second stab at going public highlights the growing popularity of special purpose acquisition vehicles in the real estate industry. Not long after the flexible office giant revealed plans to merge with BowX Acquisition Corp, in a deal that values WeWork at about $9 billion, Bloomberg reported that property technology startup Knock is also eyeing a plan to go public, with a SPAC merger as one option under consideration. PropTech firms are the among the most popular targets for a burgeoning array of SPACs, also known as “blank check” companies—public entities that are formed to buy existing firms and take them public. SPAC IPOs have attracted $96.7 billion in 2021 to date, up from $83.3 billion in all of last year and $13.6 billion in 2019, according to