To our friends at Denver Coworking.... What space? What do your members or potential members want? Managing the space? Managing the members? Really the essential questions raised in the course of setting up coworking space.
Some guiding principles: 1) Have members and/or potential members go through the space (if possible) and get their feedback. Angel and the other coworking pros are correct in "what do your members (and prospects) think?" 2) After managing many buildings (both personal and professionally), and running a business incubator for 11 years, you need to consider the building (space) itself. If the space is the hardware (space, HVAC, internet, lighting, flexible space, etc), and the community is the software (programming, members, events, coworking community), you really need both to make it work. And while leading with community is essential, if the heat doesn't work, or the Internet is down, or the space isn't flexible, the community side isn't supported and your coworking space (and community) will not work in the long term. 3) From the building side (space support), more flexibility, more open space, more options is better. At DurangoSpace, all of our furnishings (Hon Huddle, Hon Basyx, 9to5 Brio exec seating, Mayline Valore task seating are on wheels and flexible. We plan on rearranging our space all of the time. However, with walls, you are limited. But you need some walls to define space. Those needs are more critical than "Loft vs. Mansion". 4) In our business model, based on the coworking metrics of 2 members per one workspace, and 100 SF per workspace, we have calculated space this way: Our DurangoSpace is 2650 SF in the 1200 block of Main Avenue in Durango, CO. So that would be about 26 workspaces (capacity), with could serve 40 to 50 members (max at 50). But we need 23 members (or equivelent) to break even, and 30 to 40 is the sweet spot. But to do this we had to have $11 to $12 SF rent. Some places in town were $14 to $22 SF, which was outside our revenue model budget. So back to you Mansion vs. Loft: Can your members afford it? Hope this helps. Jasper DurangoSpace On Jan 2, 4:10 pm, Denver Coworking <[email protected]> wrote: > I am trying to select a new location for a cowering facility in Denver > and I'm debate the type of building. I noticed that Conjuncture is in > an old mansion and it's really working for them, in fact they are > expanding to the neighboring house. Most other coworking spots are in > office buildings or converted lofts with a few other ones being in > strip malls, although the strip mall coworking facilities are a bit > rare. > > From your experience what do you like the most and why - old mansion > v. open office layout? > > My pros and cons: > > Old Mansions > > Pros: Great home feel, yard and patio access, available cheap street > parking, segmented rooms with up to 8 to 10 cowers in each, lounge > space, kitchen, showers often included for bikers, lower rents. > > Cons: Layout can be broken up to 5 larger rooms v. 1 or 2 larger > ones, location is off the main streets, less of a professional feel > (pro and con) for meeting clients at, the lack of a giant open floor > plan prevents larger (15+) people events being held. > > Office/Lofts > > Pros: Configured to have a giant open floor plan, more of a > professional but casual atmosphere, often in a good location, a > parking lot may be available with the lease, close to public transit, > often closer to business clients of members. > > Cons: Higher rents and expensive parking if lot is not available. > > What do you think? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
