Coworking Grows in the Midwest
Office users throughout the region have created a lot of demand for such services.
INDIANAPOLIS—Coworking providers may have first established operations in the nation’s core cities, but secondary markets are now getting their share. Serendipity Labs Coworking, for example, will soon open its first Indianapolis area shared office and coworking location. Company officials say it will open during the fourth quarter in the Midtown Carmel redevelopment project, a joint venture in suburban Carmel between Old Town Development and Ambrose Property Group.
The 24,000-square-foot workplace will overlook the Monon Greenway on the second floor of 517 Monon Blvd. Serendipity officials say it will bolster the live/work/play redevelopment that local residents already enjoy.
“The way we work is changing,” says John Arenas, chairman and chief executive officer of Serendipity Labs. “With distributed teams and ever-changing workforce requirements, businesses need flexible workplaces that are professional without being stodgy.”
And office users across the Midwest have demonstrated a desire for coworking space that can provide such environments. According to CBRE’s 2017 Midwest Trends Report, the Chicago region has two million square feet of co-working space and a total of 85 facilities. But Columbus has nearly 500,000 square feet of space devoted to co-working, and a total of 43 facilities. And Columbus is not unusual in this respect. Indianapolis, Detroit, Kansas City, St. Louis and Minneapolis each have dozens of facilities and up to 700,000 square feet.
Serendipity’s Indianapolis expansion is part of its strategy to create a national network of upscale workplaces for businesses of all sizes, including ones in the Midwest. The new Carmel location joins its facilities in Chicago and Columbus.
Members come from all industries including healthcare, pharmaceutical, and insurance; financial and legal services; high tech and business and transportation management. Linked together through a cloud-based reservation system, members can use Serendipity Labs wherever they need to work.
Multi-unit franchise developers Alex Perchuk, Danny Wengrod and Robert Baker will open three Serendipity Labs in the Indianapolis area. Serendipity was represented by JLL with Michael Berman, managing director, and Graham Summers, executive vice president. Old Town Development and Ambrose Property Group were represented by Adam Broderick, managing director, JLL.