Pop-up workspace open for business on Broadway

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This article was published 21/07/2022 (1152 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The tables are out, the Wi-Fi is free and the white boards are at the ready — Downtown Winnipeg BIZ’s pop-up workstation has returned to Broadway.

RE: Workspace began last year in response to the pandemic, remote work and a lack of foot traffic downtown.

The outdoor working area has again taken part of Capital Grill & Bar’s parking lot at 275 Broadway. Orange umbrellas shade tables; pink and yellow paint covers gray car stalls.

“We really just wanted to make this space a place that people want to spend time in, that would kind of encourage collaboration and get people to reconnect,” said Pamela Hardman, the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ’s marketing director.

On Wednesday, the hub’s opening day, people sat together with their computers and notebooks. Manitobans can pre-book or drop in. There are 30 spaces for pre-booking, at tables named for Winnipeg streets.

Last year, 160 people booked in advance over the workplace’s five-week tenure, Hardman said.

“It’s really about adding that vibrancy to the area,” she said. “(It’s) encouraging people to enjoy downtown and remind them of what they maybe missed with working remotely.”

Daily foot traffic in the area has increased compared to the past two years. Office workers are returning; downtown visitors numbered near 110,000 mid-June, compared to less than 100,000 the year prior.

Still, foot traffic is below pre-pandemic levels. The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ tracked more than 140,000 visitors mid-June in 2019.

“Recovery is happening,” Hardman said. “It’s slow, but we certainly are prioritizing trying to get more people here.”

RE: Workspace will be open until Sept. 2. It runs Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Margaret Gaune’s eyes lit up to see the patio back in action.

“You think clearer out here, rather than in a cold office,” Gaune said.

She works steps away, in the province’s Department of Families building. Last year, she’d take her belongings outside and sit at a BIZ table two or three days per week.

“Summer’s just too short,” she said. “I wish they would’ve had this years ago.”

She’s hoping to conduct meetings at the Broadway workstation this summer.

“I don’t want to encourage people to come, because then there’ll be no place for me,” Gaune said with a laugh.

It can be hard to secure a seat unless you come early, she said. She’d like to see more downtown parking space converted for similar ventures.

Nine parking stalls from Capital Grill & Bar and Union Centre are being used for the workspace.

“(It) might be a good idea to have something similar further down,” Gaune said.

The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ will assess the hub’s popularity at the end of the summer, Hardman said.

“We hope that people enjoy it, and if they do, we’ll do our best to keep doing it as long as we can,” she said.

Office supplies and portable charging stations are available. Downtown Winnipeg BIZ ambassadors are on site, and they remove supplies at closing time.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com