The trend of offering flexible office space for those on a shoestring budget is gaining traction in the Tri-Cities with the opening of Connect Workplace in Kennewick.

The co-working movement allows people to rent shared office space in a collaborative environment.

“Let’s say you’re an insurance agent, financial planner or attorney,” Scott Gearheart, president of Connect Workplace, said “with us, you come in, have your office, conference room, kitchenette and lounge—and all of that is shared with everyone in the club.”

Blue Cougar Properties’ new 12,000-square-foot $2.5 million building opens this January at 8350 W. Grandridge Blvd.

The first floor is home to Advanced Family Chiropractic, with the second and third floors reserved for those who don’t need office space full time.

The Connect Workplace office décor is a mixture of glass, metal and wood with lively colors that are not too trendy, said Gearheart, who is also one of Blue Cougar Properties’ four owners.

“It’s going to be fun, but not super eclectic,” he said.

Club memberships vary from executive office suites to co-working environments and even virtual office packages.

The two- to four-person office package is $800 to $1,600 a month and provides access to a furnished suite 24/7 with internet, mail and address service, access to meeting rooms and five monthly guest passes.

The one-person office package — at $700 to $950 a month — also allows 24/7 entry with three guest passes.

A cheaper alternative is the office day pass, which allows people—such as remote sales representatives—to rent an office by the day or the hour from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Cost for two hours is $25. A full-day rental runs about $75.

For those who don’t need a private office, co-working plans start at $25 a day and provide members with access to cubicles in a shared workspace. The $229 co-working plan includes one guest pass, as well as four hours of meeting room access. Meeting room usage is increased by six hours for the co-working-plus plan and gives members 24/7 access to the space.

Virtual office plans range from $55 to $225 a month. They’re designed to provide club members with that “big business feel” even if a person is working from their kitchen table.

“Some people might still want to work from home, but they want an address where if someone Googled their company name, it doesn’t show their house. They can use our address as their address, so someone sees it’s a real company, which gives them a little more prestige. And if someone wants to sound a little bigger by having someone answer their phone, the person calling doesn’t realize it’s a one-man show,” said Gearheart, adding that users can pick an option that includes personalized call answering.

For levels that include access to meeting space, an automated software system allows members to log in, check availability and book one of two rooms for brainstorming sessions, presentations and informal gatherings. The small conference room accommodates up to six people and includes a phone, flat screen, writing wall and internet, while the large conference room can hold up to 20 people.

All on-site membership packages have access to the lounge/break room with views overlooking the Columbia River. The lounge area doubles as a conference event space with a capacity of 20 to 25 people.

“You’re really only paying for the office space, and everything else is shared, even a shared receptionist,” said Gearheart, who went on to explain that while telecommuting is beneficial, many employees and business owners thrive in traditional work environments.

Popularity of co-working

Roughly 10,000 co-working spaces were available globally in 2016, according to Deskmag, an online magazine about co-working environments.

Fuse, a co-working space that opened at 710 George Washington Way in Richland in 2014, is growing “fantastically,” said Brett Spooner, co-founder and chairman of the board for Fuse.

“We started the year with about 50 members and we’re over 100 now,” he said. “We have about 6,000 square feet of space, and we’ll be expanding to a total of 10,000 square feet by the end of next year.”

Spooner said more co-working options in the Tri-Cities “isn’t a bad thing.”

“You go to Seattle and there’s 40 to 50 co-working spaces. Our community of members is very focused on technology,” he said.

Fuse also offers monthly membership levels of private offices, private desks and floating desks, which are first-come, first-serve.

“One of the things that you’ll find is that 20 years ago people worked in big buildings and nobody worked from home. Then they started having people work from home and found that people were becoming less efficient because they needed interaction. People look for a sense of belonging,” Gearheart said.

The collaborative aspect of co-working is what makes it appealing, Spooner said.

“There’s a healing component of co-working, running into people and socializing. I think what we do at Fuse is critical to the Tri-Cities, because we’re the nexus of young leaders. (Co-working space) lets people come together where they would have never met otherwise, and they collaborate and start new projects — and if you’re having continuing engagement, exciting things happen,” Spooner said.

Co-working isn’t a completely new concept, Gearheart said. When he started Pinpoint Consulting Inc., in Charlotte, North Carolina 20 years ago, he worked in a shared workspace much like the one he’s operating with partners Mike Stoker and Ron Carlson.

“I’m that classic customer who’s going to come in here,” he said. “I know there’s a lot of people who need a co-working space: writers, counselors, attorneys. Walk through Starbucks and see people at their computers for two to three hours with coffee, or McDonald’s.”

Along with Stoker and Carlson, Gearheart owns Blue Cougar Properties with one additional partner, Milo Thurber, who operates the chiropractic business on the first floor.

Connect Workplace began accepting office memberships in late November with occupancy planned for mid-January.

“We’ve had a lot of inquiries,” Gearheart said. “We’ve already been contacted by a couple of counselors who need space. And let’s say a large corporation—a manufacturer’s rep who comes to the Tri-Cities for a couple of days—needs to bring people to an appointment. Those are the people we’re looking to serve.”

For more information about Connect Workplace, visit connectwp.com or call 509-572-9004.