Firm crafts co-working spaces for a crowd
“Co-working” space isn’t just for solo workers anymore.
Large companies, too, are looking to such spaces as they seek to be more nimble and lean in today’s competitive business landscape.
This has led E.V. Bishoff, a Columbus commercial real-estate firm, to create a furnished flexible-office concept aimed at companies seeking private work spaces for 10 or more employees.
Bishoff plans to open what it calls Presto office suites in Columbus and the other three cities where it has operations — Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh — before the end of November. Bishoff will have a combined total of about 10,000 square feet of co-working space initially in Columbus, and up to 20,000 square feet in the other cities.
The monthly rental fee will vary, depending on location, size and length of commitment. It includes all furniture, internet, telephones, 24-hour security, conference rooms and equipment such as whiteboards and Wi-Fi routers.
“Twenty-five years ago, large corporations maintained their own office space. They had an inventory of furniture and (had) space planners on staff,” said David Bishoff, president of E.V. Bishoff.
“That’s all changed. Corporate America has become leaner, more efficient. ... Most of those positions aren’t there any longer, and the expense of maintaining an inventory of furniture you’re not using is more than most people are willing to pay.”
In Columbus, Bishoff, which has a specialty in renovating historic office buildings in downtown areas, will have Presto offices at 35 E. Gay St., in the Commerce Building, and at 33 N. Third St.
Bishoff also maintains two more traditional co-working brands in Columbus and its other cities: Superior Office Suites and Club Level CoWorking.
In Cincinnati, Presto space is being built out for a team of 80, according to Bishoff, declining to name his clients.
Bishoff said privacy is the biggest benefit, besides flexibility, to larger companies making use of this concept.
“There are privacy issues associated with co-working,” Bishoff said. “It’s like being on an airplane right next to someone else, and needing to work on your laptop ... With Presto, companies have their own front door, a suite or an entire floor.”
A secondary benefit is being able to instill a company’s own culture in a space. For example, not every company is eager to have its employees rub elbows with and take part in happy hours with fellow co-workers who are strangers or who might work for competitors, he said.
Commercial real-estate brokerage CBRE is definitely seeing demand from larger companies for flexible office space, both in buildings it manages and elsewhere, said Michael Copella, managing director of the Columbus office.
He points to the case earlier this year of IBM announcing it would take the entire eight floors in a co-working building in lower Manhattan developed by WeWork, one of a growing number of companies offering flexible office space around the country.
“I can’t tell you how often we end up subleasing a large corporation’s space that they can’t use anymore but still have a lease on,” Copella said. He said this can happen if a company loses a key client and downsizes, or has a change in business strategy.
Copella said that, for some clients, it can actually be less costly to lease flexible space at a slightly higher monthly rate than to sign a lease and open an office with more space than it needs for the near term.
He cited a recent example of an unnamed CBRE client that wanted to open a new office on the East Coast that would add staff over three years.
“That’s not going to work for everyone in every situation,” Copella said. “But for some, it makes a lot of sense.”