Here in Chicago, they seem to be popping up everywhere. What are they? A co-working space is where people come to work in the same space, these people most likely do not work for the same company, they just happen to be working out of the same space. The business model is similar to a health club in that you pay for access, there is a secure entrance with 24/7 access as well as the perks of workshops, networking, and office hours with experts, they are often touted as a community center rather than just a space to work. The price seems to be between $200 – $300 a month, keep in mind that a entry level office space in some random strip mall can easily run over $1000 a month. As you can imagine this type of setup works well for startups, freelancers, and remote workers.
Seems with more and more companies allowing, even encouraging working remotely the popularity of these spaces is only going to increase. In the 90s we had tons of nondescript office buildings housing hundreds of office workers, each with their own little real estate of a 6 X 6 X 6 cube.
Personally, I say good riddance. Goodbye Cubicles, Hello Co-working spaces.
– Blog post written from 1871 a Co-Working Space here in Chicago
