Meanwhile, one floor above the diner…

The previous entry illustrated the elements a city needs to attract job-creating creatives. Here’s some of the evidence…

This photo is what’s happening on the floor above The Diner featured yesterday. As the story goes, a group of entrepreneurs, moving from another creative mecca, New York City, were drawn by the active scene surrounding this now locally-famous 24-hour hot spot, a decision made much easier when the floor above it became available. It was more space than they needed, so they began subletting the space to other young creative entrepreneurs. “We even joked about having a dumb waiter installed so that entrepreneurs (or even just our company) could easily order food. We thought of both The Diner and Tryst [a coffeehouse two doors down] as alternative client/internal meeting spots as well as places to blow off steam and get out of the office.”, says Berit Oskey, one of the founding partners.

Five years later, the Affinity Lab, a shared workplace for entrepreneurs (currently ten of them including yours truly), has indirectly helped incubate companies that either grew in staff and since moved, or grown in revenue and stayed.

A kitchen, a living room, a conference room with a view, a copier/fax, high-speed internet, and all-day-Friday disco ball (see image) come with the workplace investment, ranging from $475-$775/mo. The cross-entrepreneur collaboration, spontaneous social outings and friendly politically-incorrect exchange? Priceless.

What kind of workplace suits you best? Speak your mind below…

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neilkt