Co-Working Spaces Spreading Beyond the Loop

The Bradley Business Center already has executive offices complete with refurbished conference space.

CHICAGO—Many experts believe that co-working spaces will be one of the big drivers of the US office market over the next few years. And in Chicago, co-working providers are just beginning to establish significant spaces beyond the Loop and West Loop submarkets. By this summer, for example, officials from Chicago-based Hansen Realty and its joint venture partner Centrum Partners expect to put the finishing touches on a new co-working space at their Bradley Business Center, a 500,000 square foot mixed-use complex in the North Center neighborhood.

“North Center is one of the hottest neighborhoods in the city for families,” Brett Berlin, Hansen’s marketing and sales director, tells GlobeSt.com. Like a growing number of people these days, many of these family members run small businesses out of their home and would prefer to keep home and work life separate. “You see co-working spaces popping up right and left in the Loop,” but for entrepreneurs in North Center, there are currently few options.