Movin On Up (Part 2)

Chalkboards and Chairs and Chartreuse Oh My!

Last Thursday was the big reveal for our new space! This was it, a sneak peek at our new digs. (Side bar – the biggest concern when setting up a new office always seems to be the floor plan aka “who am I sitting beside?”. It may be engrained in us from high school but that’s okay because we’re all about embracing our youth here at OfficeSpace.com.)

Potential Floorplan (open concept) w/ Chalk “Brainstorming” Wall.

Amongst the concerns we laid out in last week’s blog “Movin On Up Part 1” were – what to do with our office furniture and whether or not we should design the space ourselves. Well, it turns out the best laid plans are ones that involve doing a bit of both.

1. For our furniture/supplies dilemma, we referenced Pinterest obsessively and tried to incorporate our own furniture with a few creative ideas from Pinterest ie. Our Chalkboard Wall.

2. We also figured out the most efficient way to get rid of the furniture we couldn’t re-use was to sell it to our neighbors in the same loft space. We already share the same esthetic and neither party had to travel far for deliveries and pick ups.

3. Despite our own in-house decorating efforts we still needed a bit of assistance so we hired a local designer to help walk us through a few things. Keep in mind small budget doesn’t equal 100% DIY. We were still able to bring on a professional who could help tie everything together and offer some affordable solutions.

4. In keeping with our brand identity we’ve decided to add accents like throw pillows and desk supplies in our team colors while keeping everything else “Ikea” white. This keeps costs down, is easy to refresh and won’t look dated in a few years.

Next Friday is the actual move and we’re sourcing things like gently used boxes for packing (more enviro-friendly/economical) and looking at how to introduce ourselves into our new subleased space which happens to be shared by a large Seattle web based business who has been kind enough to offer us our new home.

Stay tuned for the finished product and a new look at Chez OfficeSpace.com.

Movin On Up! (Part 1)

Big News! We’re moving offices!

Our Current Space (the team hard at work!)

Yay! Streamers, confetti, balloons!

Excitement, pride, growth – all good!

Suddenly, those feelings were followed up by the pending loom of “ah nuts, moving means packing means boxes means design choices and so on and so on”… Just when we got comfortable and everything had a place. We needed to retreat to the “Living Room”..

The “Living Room”

Yes, there are many questions we here at OfficeSpace.com have now been faced with regarding our upcoming move. So we thought who better to share them with then you.

  • First we thought, what do we do with everything?
  • Do we bring our old furniture to the new location? Recycle it? Repurpose it? Resell it?
  • Start from scratch?
  • Hire a designer vs do it ourselves?
  • We’re a small team with a budget to match so how do we maintain our hip, cool, start up, tech office vibe we pin daily on our Pinterest board?

You might be asking, aren’t these some of the many things you deal with when tenants contact you about moving and finding office space through OfficeSpace.com? You’re absolutely right, but there’s something to the saying “walking a mile in someone else’s shoes”. So, as we continue our adventure over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing what we’ve learned and our progress as we approach moving day (October 5th!)

Do you have any office moving horror stories or perhaps any great recommendations or tips? If so, please feel free to send them our way.

P.S. We’ll be keeping this…

Obligatory “Office Space” poster

Looking Forward, The Price of Uncertainty…

On this day every year we can’t help but stop and think about what happened, we get lost in thought – where we were, and how we felt. We remember the tragedy and remain curious about the details of the final memorial space. Eleven years later it seems there’s may be some closure on the status of the 16 acre site or is there?

Announced on the eve of the anniversary, funding support was finally sorted for the memorial museum although no completion date has been set, progress none the less. And, there seems to be cautious optimism on the leasing front as at least 1/2 the skyscrapers are expected to be filled over the next 5 to 8 years. Douglas Durst, chairman of the Durst Organization, which is co-developing One World Trade Center and handling its leasing for the Port Authority, has outlined a very positive attitude “We’re very optimistic that we’ll have the building fully rented by the date of 2017, 2018,”. A considerable percentage of the 3 million square feet of office space has already been reserved by publishing giant Conde Nast, who is rumored to be taking 25 floors. Said to be “like a stamp of approval” by Dan Fasulo, managing director for Real Capital Analytics, a commercial real estate research firm, Conde Nast’s presence will definitely be an asset in attracting other businesses.Image

Despite huge costs associated with effectively running the former WTC site, it’s museum and the memorial, it seems those involved feel the rise in commercial real estate, visitors to the site (4.5 million since last year’s 10th anniversary), government support and donations will aid in offsetting the financial responsibilities. After the 1993 truck bombing it was next to impossible to find businesses to secure space at the site. However, the neighborhood has changed, there’s much more happening in lower Manhattan than there was 20 years ago so it’s difficult to predict whether this optimism is on the mark.

Do you think this is a fair estimation of time considering some of the towers have not yet begun construction? Would you consider leasing in the former WTC space? Do you think the 60 million a year operating budget can be responsibly maintained without further borrowing and debt being accumulated?