Office buildings finding new uses after Bitwise
The neon signs are gone, the dream of Bitwise Industries flickered out at two modernized office buildings across from the Padre Hotel at what was supposed to be the nexus of Bakersfield’s new tech sector. But inside, new life grows.
Community-based organizations come and go. Startups strive and professional firms carry on. A basement video game arcade-cafe doubles as a health clinic where people off the street undergo basic wellness assessments, receive bags of supplies and connect with service providers.
New ownership has restored normalcy even as it is presiding over changes at 1701 and 1723 18th St. Both structures were redeveloped since 2019 with millions of dollars in venture capital money by Bitwise, the Fresno-based coding school, software firm and coworking company that imploded earlier this year in Bakersfield and nine other cities around the country.
Now with a new cocktail lounge at the southwest corner of 18th and H streets, greater security, a daily cleaning service and property managers recruiting for additional tenants, one of downtown’s key intersections may be on the road to recovering from a bankruptcy that set way back Bakersfield’s aspirations for workforce development in the field of computer software.
One sign of change at the properties is the tenancy of social service provider Edward Robinson, who moved in just weeks before Bitwise laid off its staff of more than 900 in May.
San Francisco-based investment firm Grounded Capital has given Robinson and his business, The Social Servant, permission to bring in groups for training or other meetings, in addition to hosting events where people who are unsheltered, veterans or members of other protected classes come in to receive services, food and supplies from nonprofits.
Robinson has a small office on the top floor of the easternmost building and, parked outside, a van stocked with hygiene kits, food, water and other supplies for distribution around town.
His tenancy affords him access to meeting rooms he offers to community-based organizations and labor unions. His business is grant-funded but, for his prep, video monitor help and cleanup work, Robinson charges a fee to groups
that typically come onto the office property for a few hours at a home.
As he has emphasized to representatives of Grounded Capital in informal discussions about how the property might be put to good use, Robinson sees the two buildings as being best suited to bringing people together in comfortably collaborative spaces.
“I said, ‘Man, these are resources — this electricity, the heat — all of this is resources. The space is designed for interaction, for community,’” he said.
A representative of Grounded acknowledged Robinson’s activity but said he was unable to speak publicly about the firm’s investments.
Bitwise never quite got off the ground in Bakersfield, partly because in-person interactions that worked for the company in Fresno had to be moved online during the pandemic. Ultimately, as investors fueled an unsustainable expansion, prosecutors allege the company’s two co-founders hid the extent to which revenue was falling short of expenses. Both have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Many businesses operate at the two buildings, but there are many vacancies, as well.
Early Thursday afternoon, no one sat in any of a series of classrooms designed for teaching coding. Conference rooms were mostly vacant at the time, as was a large, ground-floor communal space with a modest kitchen that was originally supposed to attract crowds of people coworking on their laptops, making connections and reserving polished conference rooms for more formal meetings.
One of the coworking tenants is Bakersfield-based SineWatts Inc., a battery-charging technology startup. CEO Shibashis “Shiba” Bhowmik said traffic around the office complex seems to have slowed down recently, but maybe it’s just because of the holidays.
Bhowmik said his tenancy remains from an earlier lease and has been told changes are coming under Grounded Capital’s ownership.
Plans for the building going forward remain a “work in progress” as ownership works through the complexities of Bitwise’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy filed in late June, said Executive Director Jeffrey Andrew at Cushman & Wakefield, which has been contracted by Grounded to manage and lease up the building.
“We are looking to lease space and potential tenants are welcome to reach out to me to discuss their interest,” Andrew said. He added that proposed changes ahead should come into clearer view next month.