Cubicleless in Seattle – The beginnings (1 of 2)

Maybe these refrains from Seattle entrepreneurs regarding office space, quoted in seattlepi sound familiar…

“We were going to kill each other if we stayed cooped up in this old room in my house,” Wil.

“We need flexibility. That’s really the key,” Kate.

“I don’t need a full-time office. I just need [them] when I need them – like right now. And maybe next Tuesday,” Shauna. “I end up working a lot from the coffee shops, but those are getting pretty crowded,” Derek.

These are three unique yet related dilemmas for those who needed office space, but pretty much had enough of the standard dropped ceiling, cubicle-lined, beige, monotonous office space. As one of them put it, “The office building is kind of a construct of a different time.”

To the three of them, they’ve each found three unique workplace solutions:

1. The coffeehouse. Wil and his colleagues from the software company ‘Delicious Monster’ set up ‘shop’ at Zoka Coffee Roaster & Tea (pictured). “I’m so much happier, so much more productive working with people.”

2. Flex office space. Essentially executive office suites that you rent by the day, week or month. These are pricey, located in financial districts and have a formal, corporate atmosphere, but signal the rise in need for a more open office structure in both use and appearance. Which leads us to…

3. Coworking sites. Shauna opened My Day Office in September – the first coworking site in the city, with rates at an affordable $150 to $500/month to rent workspaces in downtown Seattle, and Derek was looking to apply when it opened. It comes across as targeting executives more than creatives however. So, along came… (see the next entry)…

About The Author

neilkt