UNM-area co-workers get a home
Developer transforming old building into Free Range flexible offices
Albuquerque’s co-working crowd will soon be getting some new digs. Dentist-turned-developer Joseph Pitluck is trying to give new life to an old building at Central and University as Free Range Shared Workspaces, an 11,000-square-foot co-work space. A banner on the side of the building — illustrated with a logo of a chicken in a necktie — proclaims its imminent opening.
Free Range, at 1700 Central SE, formerly housed a bookstore, a scooter shop and has current tenants — a bike shop that will soon relocate and a flamenco studio, which will continue to be a tenant. Free Range will expand into the bike shop once the owner leaves.
Pitluck will unveil the concept at a Feb. 17 open house where potential clients can hear more about setting up shop in the space.
The property was acquired late last year by Pitluck and his wife, Huan Yang. She continues to practice dentistry full-time at Comfort Dental while Pitluck, who is also a real-estate broker and has other property investments, has stepped away from day-to-day dentistry to give Free Range his full attention. As CEO and founder, Pitluck is aggressively marketing the new business in person and via social media.
The goal is to provide young entrepreneurs with more flexible office space to start businesses and to help existing businesses grow, Pitluck said.
As Albuquerque tries to boost its homegrown ecosystem of creative and tech startups and small businesses, co-working space is crucial, said Pitluck. Free Range, however, will have some competition. The city already has co-working spaces at Fat Pipe ABQ and the Simms Space Downtown, as well as several business incubators.
Pitluck hopes to draw interest from a variety of customers — grad students and researchers from nearby
UNM, corporations wanting an off-site space for designated work teams, people regularly traveling through the region on business, and consultants in the creative and high-tech fields.
“There are companies all over the country where you can go and rent office space, but they are not really communities,” said Pitluck. He added that “when you have people from different backgrounds and professions meeting one another (in co-working spaces), then you build a network faster and more opportunities come up.”
The building, which was once listed for sale at $750,000, will get about $200,000 to $300,000 in remodeling plus new furniture.
“We’re upgrading the electrical (system), of course,” said Pitluck during a recent tour of the space, where a work crew was getting “Studio A” spruced up. “It has to have the best Wi-Fi connectivity.” The buildout is being guided by local architectural firm Design Plus.
The space will have open seating areas, assigned desks of the sit/stand variety, private office space, and a micro lounge with reclining chairs. “We sat on a lot of seats,” said Pitluck.