An overview of the 10+ new facilities coming to the Triangle in 2017 to offer coworking, makerspace or startup resources.
With seven new or expanded startup-friendly spaces opened in 2016 and at least 11 campuses coming or growing in 2017, it’s never been easier to find a unique place to work or build a company in the Triangle.
For part two of our series on real estate dedicated to entrepreneurs and startups, we’re diving into the details behind the new spaces and expansions coming in the next 12 months.
The biggest takeaway here is that co-working is going mainstream, entering new industries, touching new demographics and nearly every industry. Our estimate is that by year’s end, we’ll count more than 30 spaces catering to entrepreneurs in the region.
Check out the spaces coming online in 2017:
The Pinkubator opens
The Pinkubator at North Hills in Raleigh doesn’t quite classify as a coworking space. Operated by The Pink Ceiling, the consulting and investing group run by serial entrepreneur Cindy Whitehead, this space is open to entrepreneurs who complete an application process and classify as either a female-led startup or building a company that touches women in some way.
Most companies will spend at least three months in the space, but they could receive assistance and help from the incubator up for up to 18 months. Grand opening is February 1, but an application period is open now. Cost is $500 per month.
Pink lockers and huddle areas are among the features of the Pinkubator, which opens February 1 in North Hills. Credit: The Pink Ceiling
The Frontier expands
Two years since its opening within the former Park Center campus at Research Triangle Park, The Frontier is undergoing its first expansion. Another half a floor will be open for private office tenants by February 2017, and according to the RTP staff, more than 70 companies are on a wait list for those spaces. A move by the Triangle Community Foundation also freed up another 16,000 square feet in that building for more private office tenants.
Letters of intent for space within two buildings across the street could mean construction begins on another phase of The Frontier soon. Check out our recent story on The Frontier’s growth here.
The Frontier will eventually expand to include three buildings at Park Center. Credit: Research Triangle Park
HQ Raleigh expands
The downtown Raleigh startup campus has suffered growing pains since it moved from Hillsborough Street downtown in early 2014. Just a year after the move, the team announced a new building to be built just behind the existing one. But site complications and other construction going on in the vicinity stalled those plans. Meanwhile, HQ Raleigh leased an “annex” across the street for growing teams like WedPics.
The new building plans have been scaled back a bit, but a groundbreaking will happen in January on a 25,000-square-foot facility. As construction ensues, HQ Raleigh is meeting existing demand by remodeling the annex to fit more teams, specifically those in the IoT and maker sectors (NC RIoT is a key new tenant with a small makerspace).
HQ Raleigh will also open four floors of private offices and coworking, and top floor event space in The Capital Club building just two blocks from its campuses. It will be used for member events, but also rented for weddings, corporate outings and other special events. Construction begins in January for a second quarter opening. HQ Raleigh counts over 300 members, who work for 150 different companies. Membership start at $125 per month.
Fuquay Coworking expands
Near the historic strip of buildings parading downtown Fuquay-Varina is a multi-level, 2,500 square-foot space for startup teams to grow in Western Wake County. The draw for members, especially those local to Fuquay, is the option to avoid commuting the increasingly disastrous traffic patterns of I-40 going into Durham, RTP and Raleigh.
The space is partner to Innovate Fuquay-Varina, a six-month initiative to drive small business development and entrepreneurship in the town, inspired by the “Startup Weekend” movement. The program launched in August, subsequently hosting a series of seminars, panels, business networking and mentoring events all leading up to a 52-hour event called #InnovateFV Weekend at the end of January.
Since opening two years ago, the Fuquay Coworking space has gone through three expansion phases. That’s not including the latest expansion under construction, which co-founder Virginia Johnson says will double the space’s existing offerings with more dedicated desk options, private office options and shared space.
The member base is divided between individuals and small business teams, which range from custom cake designer Cakes to Envy to Solanimus, a company that develops software for gaming and business-related applications. Rates start at $25 for a single day pass and vary depending on which desk options and additional services the prospective member desires. Shannon Cuthrell contributed.
The Cookery expands
The biggest deal of The Cookery’s expansion is the addition of larger event space, specifically for weddings, receptions and rehearsal dinners. But more kitchen space for members of its five-year-old shared commercial kitchen and incubator will be included too. Members get more space for plating and storage, specifically.
A look inside the shared kitchen at The Cookery in Durham. Credit: The Cookery
First Flight Venture Center Hangar6 opens
The Triangle’s oldest incubator won several prestigious grants in 2016, the most recent of which will provide $450,000 to help the center open Hangar6, a rapid prototyping center open to any science-based North Carolina business.
Promised is a variety of advanced equipment as well as the help of experts employed by the facility. Companies will pay a subscription fee to use the center (Existing prices at First Flight range from $500 to $1200 per year). Partners in the project are First Flight, the NC Center of Innovation Network, Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Eva Garland Consulting.
Launch Chapel Hill expands
A shortage of office space for growing startups is a well documented challenge for the Town of Chapel Hill. But an expansion of the highly-ranked university-affiliated accelerator Launch Chapel Hill should help.
After several years of accelerating Chapel Hill startups, Launch will expand in its existing building on Rosemary Street and add co-working to the mix. Chapel Hill doubled its funding to the accelerator late last year after a UNC report showed far too little space dedicated to startups compared to the number of ventures being formed at the university.
Construction begins soon with a late February opening planned.
Launch Chapel Hill will expand in 2017 to include coworking for the Chapel Hill community. Here’s a look inside the space today.
CSBDF Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center opens
One of the Triangle’s oldest small business assistance organizations has partnered with Shaw University to open a center in Raleigh to support underserved entrepreneurs across the state. The Carolina Small Business Development Fund will hold a grand opening for the space on January 19. The center will occupy the ground floor of the condo building at the corner of Blount and Cabarrus streets.
The goal is to help new and early stage entrepreneurs, including students, with business planning and various resources, from networking to financing to research to mentorship.
The CSBDF I&E Center will be located in downtown Raleigh near Shaw University’s campus. Credit: CSBDF
Industrious expands
Just over a year since the New York based chain of co-working spaces opened a Raleigh campus, it’s adding another floor of space in downtown Raleigh’s Charter Square building. When construction is complete in January, there will be 123 private offices as well as more coworking, conference room and event space. Private offices start at $735 for a single worker. Coworking is $350 a month.
Industrious grew to 50 companies and 188 members in its first year in town, says community manager Melissa Sayre, but demand was great for smaller offices for one and two-person teams. Those make up the majority of the expansion space. Industrious also hopes to host more community and networking events.
The tenant mix at Industrious includes remote workers for big tech companies, East Coast operations for startups like MAPP, startups like Exit Intel and Medicom, and offices for marketing companies, lawyers and other professionals. Industrious is venture-backed and adding locations fast around the U.S.—any member has free access to today’s existing 11 locations. The company expects to have between 24 and 27 by the end of 2017.
Industrious expands to another floor of downtown Raleigh’s Charter Square building this month. Here’s a look at the space that opened just over a year ago. Credit: Industrious
Gridworks Durham opens (an American Underground expansion)
It wouldn’t be a year without an expansion of American Underground. The tech hub has confirmed a 7,000-square-foot lease for space in the former Kress department store building one block from its existing Main Street campuses.
The new campus will be American Underground’s first that is open to any type of coworker, from lawyers to freelancers to small businesses to real estate agents. That’s why it’s got a new brand too.
The Kress building is one of downtown’s best known Art Deco spaces, with loft condominiums added on several floors of the building in the mid-2000s. Check out the history of the building here.
American Underground has a new coworking space coming to the Kress building in downtown Durham. Its called Gridworks. Credit: LoopNet
BioLabsNC opens
The $128 million remake of the old Liggett & Myers tobacco factory in downtown Durham is almost complete and one of its first tenants will be a Cambridge, MA-based chain of coworking/lab spaces for biotechnology startups.
The space spans 42,000 square feet and, as described by a developer to the Triangle Business Journal, will “be to life science companies what American Underground has been for technology companies.” The only difference, lab space and access to a growing national network of life science and pharma experts and entrepreneurs.
Here’s a rendering of the Chesterfield building, which is being converted into a hub of life science companies and startups in downtown Durham. Credit: Wexford Science & Technology LLC
Watch list:
Regus “Spaces” at The Dillon
Regus opened its first local Spaces in North Hills in 2016, but a larger version will open in the Dillon building under construction on Martin St. in downtown’s warehouse district.
Totaling 34,000 square feet, this space will incorporate the same aesthetics as the Spaces in North Hills, but will also have amenities like a 10,000-square-foot rooftop event space, coffee shop, restaurants and possibly a gym. Spaces at The Dillon promises to accommodate businesses of all sizes, and there will be no cap to the amount of space one company can rent out. Individual monthly membership starts at $99 for part-time and $250 for full-time, with the ability to transfer between any Regus Spaces location.
Apex coworking
Apex hopes to follow in the footsteps of neighbors Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina by opening its own space in 2017 or beyond. The move is in response to a lot of calls to the city inquiring about space with open work stations and flexible and affordable lease terms. But according to the News & Observer, it’s still unclear who will operate the space and what involvement the city will have in it. Stay tuned for updates.
