A hip new space where entrepreneurs and other business leaders can gather to collaborate or work independently will open in downtown Grand Rapids on Tuesday, November 3.
The Factory, at 38 W. Fulton on the third floor above
San Chez Bistro, is an idea developed by
Elevator Up's Aaron Schaap and Mac Fowler. It's an open office concept that allows individual businesses and entrepreneurs to work in a "co-working, nomadic work style," Fowler says, by leasing office space by the month or day.
"Aaron owns Elevator Up and he opened the doors to whoever wanted to come in and work there," Fowler says. "I approached him because I wanted to do this in Grand Rapids, and we looked around and decided to open up the space."
He and Schaap partnered with
Turnstone Furniture, which will furnish the space and use it as a living lab of sorts, Fowler says.
"They’re starting to design furniture geared toward 50-person offices, so they’ll bring in furniture to have people test it out, to help them figure out how to design furniture for a co-working space," he says.
The 2,000-square-foot space is outfitted with a mixture of high-top tables, individual desks with chairs, sofas and club chairs, white boards and dedicated wireless. Users can configure the conference room as a classroom or as a traditional boardroom.
"A couple of big tables will seat four to six people and there are a couple of banks of desks that are on wheels," Fowler says. "They can be grouped together or pulled apart so someone can work independently. It's just meant to be flexible."
Leases are $200 a month for unlimited use, or $25 a day drop-in rate.
An open house will be Tuesday, November 3 at 6 p.m.
Source: Mac Fowler, The Factory
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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