A different kind of office space

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This article was published 27/08/2018 (2593 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jason Abbott has been running a small modular furniture company called Oi Furniture in Winnipeg for a few years and has always had a hard time finding the right space to work out of, alternating between working from his home office or conducting meetings with clients at coffee shops.

He didn’t necessarily need a full-time office, and while the co-working concept was exploding elsewhere, there were no real options in Winnipeg.

That’s what inspired him to start Launch Coworking Space 16 months ago in a 5,000-square foot second-floor space in a building on Chevrier Boulevard.

He is now in the process of recruiting tenants for a second location for Launch Coworking Space in the Exchange District on the main floor of a heritage building on Arthur Street, across the road from the Silpit Building, the original Exchange District office building.

“It was after working off the dining room table of my in-laws in Phoenix that I got my first exposure to a collaborative co-working space there called Co+Hoots,” he said. “It was a pretty inspiring place to do business.”

With about 100 members at his Chevrier location, Abbott has determined there is demand — and he’s also learned a thing or two about just what co-working tenants are looking for.

Co-working spaces are becoming so popular in the U.S. that WeWork — the fastest growing player in the sector — is about to become the biggest private office tenant in Manhattan. It has 13 million square feet of space in buildings around the world. (See related story). Regus, the largest and oldest player in the market, has 45 million square feet at 3,000 locations in 900 cities and 120 countries.

Regus, with two locations in Winnipeg at 201 Portage Ave. and 330 St. Mary Ave., is a more traditional institutional space provider. Although office services are shared, its space is not intended to be collaborative.

The fact that the sector is growing does not necessarily make Abbott’s job any easier, but he is reasonably confident he’ll be able to get 15 to 20 commitments for the new space in order to be able to finalize a lease arrangement on the 7,500-sq.-ft. Arthur Street space that includes a 1,500-sq.-ft. event centre, big enough to host 100 people.

“This is a good next step for us,” he said. “The early indication is very promising.”

Even though all he has now is empty, undeveloped space with some artists renderings of how the space might look, he has six people committed after one open house. The renovations will likely cost close to $1 million, so he’s looking to get as much certainty as possible that the location will be busy before he finalizes the lease.

Launch Coworking Space offers 24-7 access, high-speed internet, coffee, tea, water, beer on tap, “and a pleasant, predictable environment,” he said.

Mobile software lets Abbott manage the space, and lets members book the space they need from their phones, allowing for lots of flexibility.

Carly Schuler is a very happy tenant at the Chevrier location. Schuler and two colleagues are developing an online tutoring service for kids learning to read, called Hoot Reading.

“We love it,” she said. “It’s great to interact with others. We even found an ad agency who was a co-tenant who we are now working with.”

For some, that kind of collaborative environment is what attracts them to the space.

“It’s super beneficial for us to get the team together a couple of times a week. And we’re a marketing company, so I make sure to introduce myself to everyone around. It’s a perfect fit for us,” said Blaise Lepine, who operates a digital marketing company called Tag Marketing out of the Chevrier location.

Among other things Abbott is tweaking in his new location is including at least a handful of private offices, something that he did not build into his first location. The largest type of tenants among his current membership are sole proprietors, and he regularly fields calls from prospective members searching for a private office.

In addition to Regus, there are some other co-working spaces in the city — all in the Exchange District — but they are more aligned with existing organizations. North Forge Technology Exchange operates its own space that includes all kinds of business support services. The Arts And Cultural Industries Association of Manitoba has a space for its members, and Space2work has created modern, upscale offices in a loft environment.

James Warren, a partner with DueNorth Systems, currently works out of the Ace Project Space, a partnership between Red River College and North Forge. DueNorth, an education technology company, will soon wind up its association with Ace Project and will need to find other location.

He figures the North Forge space won’t be appropriate for DueNorth because they are not looking for the kind of support North Forge builds into its fee structure. Warren said he has checked out the Regus space but found it too institutional and pricey.

“This looks like it could be an affordable alternative,” Warren said. “This is casual. It will also allow the kind of social collaboration that we like in the tech field. It’s great to be able to talk to other entrepreneurs to see what they’re doing. You never know where the next idea will come from.”

Abbott is already thinking about the possibility of opening up additional locations, maybe even a couple outside the city.

Brian Griffith, a member of Launch Coworking Space and a part-time web designer, is a strong advocate for co-working spaces and is in the process of launching a website called WinnipegCoworking.ca.

“Winnipeg tends to be a little behind the curve,” he said. “The idea of collaborative communities and space where people can come together and share ideas and intersect in ways where they can see what others are doing and bounce ideas off each other was not really happening 15 years ago.

“Winnipeg has a lot going for it, and I think once we get there we really go for it.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.caKnow of any newsworthy or interesting trends or developments in the local office, retail, industrial or multi-family residential sectors? Let us know at business@freepress.mb.ca