One of our most frequently asked questions is “when are you coming to Minneapolis?” Well, honestly that was never our plan. But if there’s one thing a new venture teaches you, it’s that you have to be open to change.
So, we’re pleased to announce that CoCo is coming to Minneapolis!
We hope to be up and running with our 2nd location as early as March and probably no later than April. The question is where? We’ve already asked a few people, but now we want to put it to a larger vote.
If you could pick one place on the West side to locate the next CoCo, where would it be? We’ve listed some possible locations below. If you consider yourself a potential coworker (whether on an occasional or frequent basis) please tell us the one location that you’d be most likely to visit in the future.
Thank you! Your answer will help us sort through the many possibilities and zero in on a neighborhood that will work for the greatest number of people.
A couple of quick notes:
- For CoCo West, we will offer the same services available in St. Paul: Drop-in coworking, permanent office space and conference rooms.
- We didn’t put downtown Minneapolis on the list because we’ve learned over the past couple months that accessibility is huge for most people. So, for CoCo West, we’ll be looking for a location that has abundant and free parking, which will make going to coworking truly as easy as going to the coffee shop.
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Whether it’s the Warehouse district, Longfellow, University area or Nokomis …how about having a location that’s walkable from the light rail? That’s the ultimate in accessiblity! (and Longfellow and Nokomis would have abundant parking for all the drivers, too:)
If real estate has taught us anything besides how to implode on itself Location Location Location you need to be located in a easy accessible location for mass appeal. If you want non-traditional participants (one’s not in free-lance or small biz) you need to be located within somewhat of walking distance to get those involved also.
If in the Warehouse District, BlockE, City Center (trust me they need some help and would probably be open to the ideas of volume money instead of 1 big money Client, they have seen what happens too many eggs in one basket…..) I can see myself taking advantage on a regular basis 2 hours here, 4 hours there, full days and show how this works being employed at a business that may have not been exposed to this 180 degree shift in thinking about coming to work.
If I work downtown drive in or bus walking somewhere in the skyways or 2 or 3 blocks off of it would be mass appeal. Looking forward to seeing this skyrocket
Ummm dont know what happened…sorry about that
http://www.minneapoliscitycenter.com/contact.html
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/CPED/block_e.asp
Contact:
CPED Project Coordinator Miles Mercer at (612) 673-5043.
Keith, after such a thoughtful post is thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks!
I wonder if it would be possible for one to pay, say, $300/mo. for St. Paul, and take an occasional day in Mpls. without an additional charge?
Hey Don,
In case you are not thinking of this, there is an area that is sometimes lumped into the Warehouse District but is called the North Loop.
This is an area West of Hennepin/1st Ave and North of Washington Ave to the river.
Some residential, restaurant, shops and office/warehouse space. Roughly in a diagonal line (2-4 blocks on either side of it) from J.D. Hoyt’s and Monte Carlo to Acme Comedy Club.
There are quite a few For Lease signs and parking (depending on the building) is available for free/cheap.
I also would be interested in co-working downtown. I used to work downtown and loved it. Of course, I took the bus and never had to worry about parking, so I can understand why a downtown co-working spot might not succeed.
I voted for LynLake, but I would be also be interested Uptown and the Warehouse District and would probably still be interested in any place I could bike to in ~20 minutes without putting my life on the line.
I would love to see accessibility for bicycles taken into account in selecting the new location. I commute by bike about 40% of the time during the temperate months, and the ability to get there easily by bike AND have easy parking for my bike would greatly increase the likelihood that I would use CoCoMpls. http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles/ The city provides a map of what is existing for good routes and what is coming soon.
Justin – Lynnlake will be accessible from the light rail in a couple years.
Keith – I agree with “location location location” but also would never do downtown, yuck on parking. Most skyway people already have an office to go to.
John – Loving Johns idea. It’s like a gym membership with multiple buildings.
Luke – I’m with Luke. I voted for Lynnlake because parking is definitely abundant (and would be great for events if you could find a building with the size). I would also be interested though in a place I could bike to if that was an option, but preferably not east of 35W or anywhere that is super dark/scary at night. I would be up for Hennepin or near Calhoun.
The old Library on Hennepin is for lease, I’ve always thought that would be a cute building, but for free parking you’d have to walk a block or two. On the upside (or downside) it’s close to all the bars and restaurants.
There is a big mansion looking place that had a lease sign out front near Franklin and the art center. I’m not sure if it’s close to the ghetto or not, I don’t go by there very much but just throwing it out there.
Also saw a big (looking building from the outside) near Mac Makeup. Has huge glass windows. There is a couple of bigger buildings off lake and Lyndale that I’ve walked by a few times and though where really cute as well. No clue on links or numbers, but can see about getting them next time I walk by.
Desarae – the old Walker Library would be tough to top as a location. So cool!
In LynLake the old Theater Antiques building has been for lease for quite some time.
Near one of the lakes would be pretty sweet, too. Being near a park is great for taking a break.
Yes the North Loop would work very well, good little walk and can get all the way 2 blocks up from JD Hoyt’s through skyway, helps in the winter time!
Desarae A. Veit: Then you are thinking coworking is for freelancers and small businesses……its a place to gather many different backgrounds. Downtown has the complete infrastructure and added benefit of pure population. Stick in uptown and you get the small biz or freelancers and if that is the perspective we are going for go for it. I think of CoWorking as a much bigger solution than that. Plus downtown has Hennepin County & many nonprofits. Public+Private+NonProfit having the ability to cowork, co-labrate, co-create, co-opetition, co-innovate provides such a powerful solution for all involved the possibilities are endless, but still think we need accessible location for your big Public+Private+NonProfit companies to share in this experience. Plus I bet we could work on discounted parking\bus\train\transit (by the way trains come down here, not uptown!) You have 60 seconds for your rebuttal
I picked St Louis Park ( hwy 100 & 7) very selfishly only because I did not see a location in Eden Prairie being offered
. Having said that, I could have picked Hopkins or Richfield but somehow 100/7 appeals to me since it is sufficently central to attract a lot of folks. Diversity of people who can transfer energy and cross-fertilize ideas is important for the idea of co-working. Accessibility, Safety and the feeling of being moments away from the “hum” of the city but without the hassle would be appealing.
I love to see this moving forward so quickly, that’s awesome. Too bad I just signed a year lease on an office. But there’s always the future. I vote for Lyn Lake, since 1 block from my house wasn’t a choice.
So I have to ask – what’s become of this plan? Is there a location in Minneapolis, and/or a plan for one anymore?
I am considering opening up a flexible space for testing and/ or coworking in Minneapolis in the next couple months and I’m trying to find out if there is a market for this or not. Can anyone point me towards some resources?
I’m wondering, what’s the typical size of a coworking space? I think something like this could be successful in my neighborhood (although, apologies to Desarae, it’s east of 35W and therefore scary). There are a lot of consultants, entrepreneurs, and small business people who need a professional space to meet clients.
Kathleen, what’s your neighborhood? We’re in Lowertown St. Paul, which is east of 35E.